Unmanned aerial vehicle systems

ABSTRACT

Various systems, methods, for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are disclosed. In one aspect, UAVs operation in an area may be managed and organized by UAV corridors, which can be defined ways for the operation and movement of UAVs. UAV corridors may be supported by infrastructures and/or systems supported UAVs operations. Support infrastructures may include support systems such as resupply stations and landing pads. Support systems may include communication UAVs and/or stations for providing communications and/or other services, such as aerial traffic services, to UAV with limited communication capabilities. Further support systems may include flight management services for guiding UAVs with limited navigation capabilities as well as tracking and/or supporting unknown or malfunctioning UAVs.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/224,497 filed Jul. 29, 2016, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application No. 62/198,389 filed Jul. 29, 2015, each ofwhich is herein incorporated by reference.

RELATED FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present application is directed to methods and systems for unmannedaerial vehicles (UAV), including Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), andsmall UAS (sUAS).

BACKGROUND

It has been estimated that as many as 30,000 unmanned aerial vehicleswill be flying in America's skies by 2020. UAVs are being manufacturedin over 70 countries around the world. 23 countries have developed orare developing armed UAVs and/or UASs.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted 24 licenses tocommercial UAV operators as of Feb. 3, 2015. Over 300 others haveapplied so far for such licenses. Individual operators may freely flyUAVs for personal use and enjoyment (non-commercial use). The followingproposed rules have been developed for small UAV by the Federal AviationAdministration (FAA) on Feb. 23, 2015 for public commenting:

Operational Limitations:

-   -   Unmanned aircraft must weigh less than 55 lbs. (25 kg).    -   Visual line-of-sight (VLOS) only; the unmanned aircraft must        remain within VLOS of the operator or visual observer.    -   At all times the small unmanned aircraft must remain close        enough to the operator for the operator to be capable of seeing        the aircraft with vision unaided by any device other than        corrective lenses.    -   Small unmanned aircraft may not operate over any persons not        directly involved in the operation.    -   Daylight-only operations (official sunrise to official sunset,        local time).    -   Must yield right-of-way to other aircraft, manned or unmanned.    -   May use visual observer (VO) but not required.    -   First-person view camera cannot satisfy “see-and-avoid”        requirement but can be used as long as requirement is satisfied        in other ways.    -   Maximum airspeed of 100 mph (87 knots).    -   Maximum altitude of 500 feet above ground level.    -   Minimum weather visibility of 3 miles from control station.    -   No operations are allowed in Class A (18,000 feet & above)        airspace.    -   Operations in Class B, C, D and E airspace are allowed with the        required Air Traffic Control (ATC) permission.    -   Operations in Class G airspace are allowed without ATC        permission    -   No person may act as an operator or VO for more than one        unmanned aircraft operation at one time.    -   No careless or reckless operations.    -   Requires preflight inspection by the operator.    -   A person may not operate a small unmanned aircraft if he or she        knows or has reason to know of any physical or mental condition        that would interfere with the safe operation of a small UAV.    -   Proposes a micro UAV option that would allow operations in Class        G airspace, over people not involved in the operation, provided        the operator certifies he or she has the requisite aeronautical        knowledge to perform the operation.        Operator Certification and Responsibilities:    -   Pass an initial aeronautical knowledge test at an FAA-approved        knowledge testing center.    -   Be vetted by the Transportation Security Administration.    -   Obtain an unmanned aircraft operator certificate with a small        UAV rating (like existing pilot airman certificates, never        expires).    -   Pass a recurrent aeronautical knowledge test every 24 months.    -   Be at least 17 years old.    -   Make available to the FAA, upon request, the small UAV for        inspection or testing, and any associated documents/records        required to be kept under the proposed rule.    -   Report an accident to the FAA within 10 days of any operation        that results in injury or property damage.    -   Conduct a preflight inspection, to include specific aircraft and        control station systems checks, to ensure the small UAV is safe        for operation.

In Jun. 21, 2016, the FAA released a further “Summary of Small UnmannedAircraft Rules (Part 107). An excerpt of these rules are as follows:

-   -   Unmanned aircraft must weigh less than 55 lbs. (25 kg).    -   Visual line-of-sight (VLOS) only; the unmanned aircraft must        remain within VLOS of the remote pilot in command and the person        manipulating the flight controls of the small UAS.        Alternatively, the unmanned aircraft must remain within VLOS of        the visual observer.    -   At all times the small unmanned aircraft must remain close        enough to the remote pilot in command and the person        manipulating the flight controls of the small UAS for those        people to be capable of seeing the aircraft with vision unaided        by any device other than corrective lenses.    -   Small unmanned aircraft may not operate over any persons not        directly participating in the operation, not under a covered        structure, and not inside a covered stationary vehicle.    -   Daylight-only operations, or civil twilight (30 minutes before        official sunrise to 30 minutes after official sunset, local        time) with appropriate anti-collision lighting.    -   Must yield right of way to other aircraft.    -   May use visual observer (VO) but not required.    -   First-person view camera cannot satisfy “see-and-avoid”        requirement but can be used as long as requirement is satisfied        in other ways.    -   Maximum groundspeed of 100 mph (87 knots).    -   Maximum altitude of 400 feet above ground level (AGL) or, if        higher than 400 feet AGL, remain within 400 feet of a structure.    -   Minimum weather visibility of 3 miles from control station.    -   Operations in Class B, C, D and E airspace are allowed with the        required ATC permission.    -   Operations in Class G airspace are allowed without ATC        permission.    -   No person may act as a remote pilot in command or VO for more        than one unmanned aircraft operation at one time.    -   No operations from a moving aircraft.    -   No operations from a moving vehicle unless the operation is over        a sparsely populated area.    -   No careless or reckless operations.    -   No carriage of hazardous materials.

The FAA UAV rules will be effective Aug. 29, 2016.

Present UAV technologies have certain deficiencies, as follows.

UAVs technology offers significant benefits to society in that UAVs canbe flown economically, and in areas not suitable for larger aircraft.However, UAVs should not be flown into some areas, such as airports,where a collision can result in loss of human life or valuableproperties. A UAV drawn into an aircraft engine can cause a totaldisaster to the aircraft. Moreover, since UAVs are capable of deployingexplosives, chemical agents, and operating cameras to record informationthat may be regarded as private, UAVs can invade an endless variety ofareas that could be regarded as illegal, or a breach of privacy, orcreate vulnerability to destruction of property. UAVs can be used tosmuggle contraband and weapons across national borders, into prisons,and capture proprietary video of copyright sport events.

Private industry is addressing at least some, but not all, of theseconcerns. One such company, No Fly Zone, offers a database containingGPS coordinates of areas that UAV operators can help fill withinformation. The database is then sent to UAV manufacturers, whoimplement the database and provide restrictions on where the UAV canfly. It may be possible that UAV manufacturers can add or removefeatures without UAV owner knowledge. Presumably UAV owners would not beallowed to modify or bypass the “No fly Zone” capability, which may beconsidered a type of UAV digital rights management.

One UAV manufacturer, DJI of Hong Kong, has agreed to comply with theFAA's Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) 0/8326, which restricts unmanned flightaround the Washington, D.C. area, 10,000 other airports, and preventsflight across national borders. Although the U.S. President hasrequested better federal regulations, it is likely that technology mayfind a way to defeat regulations.

In the US all airspace outside of a building is administered by the FAA.Additionally operations within a building, such as a stadium, are to alesser extent controlled by the FAA when operations potentiallyaffecting public safety are involved, such as flying over populatedareas. FAA requirements generally are quite similar to InternationalCivil Aviation Organization (ICAO) international standards.

Flight Rules and Weather Conditions

Weather is a significant factor in aircraft operations. Weatherconditions determine the flight rules under which aircraft can operate,and can also affect aircraft separation (physical distance betweenaircraft).

Aircraft are separated from each other to ensure safety of flight. Therequired separation varies depending on aircraft type, weather, andflight rules. Aircraft separation requirements can increase during poorweather conditions, since it is more difficult for a pilot to see and/ordetect other aircraft. Increased aircraft separation can reduce airportcapacity, since fewer aircraft can use an airport during a given timeinterval. Conversely, reduced aircraft separation can increase airportcapacity, since more aircraft can use an airport during a given timeinterval.

Aircraft operate under two distinct categories of operational flightrules: visual flight rules (VFR) and instrument flight rules (IFR).These flight rules are linked to the two categories of weatherconditions: visual meteorological conditions (VMC) and instrumentmeteorological conditions (IMC). VMC exist during generally fair to goodweather, and IMC exist during times of rain, low clouds, or reducedvisibility. IMC generally exist whenever visibility falls below 3statute miles (SM) or the ceiling drops below 1,000 feet above groundlevel (AGL). The ceiling is the distance from the ground to the bottomof a cloud layer that covers more than 50% of the sky. During VMC,aircraft may operate under VFR, and the pilot is primarily responsiblefor seeing other aircraft and maintaining safe separation.

Types of Airspace

In the early days of aviation, aircraft only flew during VMC, whichallows a pilot to maintain orientation (e.g., up/down, turning, etc.) byreference to the horizon and visual ground references. Flight throughclouds (e.g., an IMC) was not possible, as the aircraft instruments ofthe time did not provide orientation information, and thus a pilot couldeasily lose orientation and control of the aircraft. In a visual-onlyairspace environment, it was possible to see other aircraft and avoid acollision—and thus maintain aircraft separation. Flight through cloudsbecame possible with the use of gyroscopic flight instruments. Becauseit is not possible to see other aircraft in the clouds, ATC wasestablished to coordinate aircraft positions and maintain separationbetween aircrafts. Today, maintaining separation between VFR and IFR airtraffic is still a fundamental mission of ATC. The evolution of theNational Airspace System (NAS), and existing ATC procedures, can bedirectly tied to this requirement to maintain separation betweenaircrafts.

Airspace Classifications

Aircraft operating under VFR typically navigate by orientation togeographic and other visual references. During IMC, aircraft operateunder IFR; the ATC exercises positive control (e.g., separation of allair traffic within designated airspace) over all aircrafts in controlledairspace, and the ATC is primarily responsible for aircraft separation.Aircraft operating under IFR must meet minimum equipment requirements.Pilots must also be specially certified and meet proficiencyrequirements. IFR aircraft fly assigned routes and altitudes, and use acombination of radio navigation aids (NAVAIDs) and vectors from ATC tonavigate.

Aircraft may elect to operate IFR in VMC; however, the pilot, and notATC, is primarily responsible for seeing and avoiding other aircraft.The majority of commercial air traffic (including all air carriertraffic), regardless of weather, operate under IFR as required byFederal Aviation Regulations. In an effort to increase airport capacity,ATC can allow IFR aircraft to maintain visual separation when weatherpermits.

The FAA has designated six classes of airspace, in accordance withInternational Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) airspaceclassifications. Airspace is broadly classified as either controlled oruncontrolled. Airspace designated as Class A, B, C, D, or E iscontrolled airspace. Class F airspace is not used in the United States.Class G airspace is uncontrolled airspace. Controlled airspace meansthat IFR services are available to aircraft that elect to file IFRflight plans; it does not mean that all flights within the airspace arecontrolled by ATC. IFR services include ground-to-air radiocommunications, navigation aids, and air traffic (i.e., separation)services. Aircraft can operate under IFR in uncontrolled airspace;however, the aircraft cannot file an IFR flight plan for operation inuncontrolled airspace, and IFR services are not necessarily available.Controlled airspace is intended to ensure separation of IFR aircraftsfrom aircrafts using both IFR and VFR.

The FAA airspace classifications are as follows:

Class A Class A airspace encompasses the en route, high-altitudeenvironment used by aircraft to transit from one area of the country toanother. All aircraft in Class A must operate under IFR. Class Aairspace exists within the United States from 18,000 feet mean sea level(MSL) to and including 60,000 feet MSL. Class B All aircraft, both IFRand VFR, in Class B airspace are subject to positive control from ATC.Class B airspace exists at 29 high-density airports in the United Statesfor of managing air traffic activity around these airports. It isdesigned to regulate the flow of air traffic above, around, and belowthe arrival and departure routes used by airline carriers' aircrafts atmajor airports. The ATC can manage aircraft in and around the immediatevicinity of an airport. Aircrafts operating within this area arerequired to maintain radio communication with the ATC. No separationservices are provided to VFR aircraft. Class C Class C airspace isdefined around airports with airport traffic control towers and radarapproach control. It normally has two concentric circular areas with adiameter of 10 and 20 nautical miles. Variations in the shape are oftenmade to accommodate other airports or terrain. The top of Class Cairspace is normally set at 4,000 feet AGL. The FAA has establishedClass C airspace at approximately 120 airports around the country.Aircraft operating in Class C airspace must have specific radio andnavigation equipment, including an altitude encoding transponder, andmust obtain ATC clearance. VFR aircraft are only separated from IFRaircraft in Class C airspace (i.e., ATC does not separate VFR aircraftfrom other VFR aircraft, as this is the respective pilot'sresponsibility). Class D Class D airspace is normally a circular areawith a radius of five miles around the primary airport. This controlledairspace extends upward from the surface to about 2,500 feet AGL. Wheninstrument approaches are used at an airport, the airspace is normallydesigned to encompass the aircraft flight control procedures. Class EClass E airspace is a general category of controlled airspace that isintended to provide air traffic service and adequate separation for IFRaircraft from other aircraft. Although Class E is controlled airspace,VFR aircraft are not required to maintain contact with ATC, but are onlypermitted to operate in VMC. In the eastern United States, Class Eairspace generally exists from 700/1200 feet AGL to the bottom of ClassA airspace at 18,000 feet MSL. It generally fills in the gaps betweenClass B, C, and D airspace at altitudes below 18,000 feet MSL. FederalAirways, including Victor Airways, below 18,000 feet MSL are classifiedas Class E airspace. Class F Not Applicable within United States Class GAirspace not designated as Class A, B, C, D, or E is considereduncontrolled, Class G, airspace. ATC does not have the authority orresponsibility to manage of air traffic within this airspace. In theEastern U.S., Class G airspace lies between the surface and 700/1200feet AGL.

There are also many types and areas of special use airspace administeredby the FAA:

Prohibited Areas where, for reasons of national security, the flight ofan aircraft is not permitted are designated as prohibited areas.Prohibited areas are depicted on aeronautical charts. For example, aprohibited area (P-56) exists over the White House and U.S. Capitol.Restricted In certain areas, the flight of aircraft, while not whollyprohibited is subject to restrictions. These designated often haveinvisible hazards to aircraft, such as artillery firing, aerial gunnery,or guided missiles. Aircraft operations in these areas are prohibitedduring times when it is “active.” Warning A warning area contains manyof the same hazards as a restricted area, but because it occurs outsideof U.S. airspace, aircraft operations cannot be legally restrictedwithin the area. Warning areas are typically established overinternational waters along the coastline of the United States. AlertAlert areas are shown on aeronautical charts to provide information ofunusual types of aerial activities such as parachute jumping areas orhigh concentrations of student pilot training. Military Operations AreaMilitary operations areas (MOA) are blocks of airspace in which militarytraining and other military maneuvers are conducted. MOA's havespecified floors and ceilings for containing military activities. VFRaircraft are not restricted from flying through MOAs while they are inoperation, but are encouraged to remain outside of the area.

Automated Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) is a next generationsurveillance technology incorporating both air and ground aspects andcan provide the ATC with a more accurate information of the aircraft'sthree-dimensional position in the en route, terminal, approach, andsurface environments. It has been shown to be an efficient and effectivemechanism to replace the classic radar environment currently in use.

High level features of ADS-B include:

-   -   Automatic—properly-equipped aircraft automatically report their        position, without need for a radar interrogation    -   Dependent—ADS-B depends on aircraft having an approved WAAS GPS        on board and an ADS-B Out transmitter    -   Surveillance—it is a surveillance technology that allows ATC to        watch airplanes move around    -   Broadcast—aircraft broadcast their position information to        airplanes and ATC

ADS-B doesn't need radar to work properly, but it will uses a network ofground stations to receive aircraft reports and send them back to ATC.These stations also transmit weather and traffic information back up toproperly-equipped aircraft. This network currently consists of over 400stations.

ADS-B is automatic because no external interrogation is required. It isdependent because it relies on onboard position sources and broadcasttransmission systems to provide surveillance information to ATC andother users, such as ATC and nearby aircraft and pilots.

ADS-B is made up of two main parts: ADS-B Out and ADS-B In. ADS-B Out isof interest to controllers, while ADS-B In is mostly of interest topilots. ADS-B Out is a surveillance technology for trackingaircraft—it's what ATC needs to manage traffic. It reports an aircraft'sposition, velocity, and altitude once per second. This transmission isreceived by ATC and nearby aircraft and this data makes up theequivalent of a radar display. Most aircraft will be required to haveADS-B Out by the year 2020. ADS-B In allows an aircraft to receivetransmissions from ADS-B ground stations and other aircraft. Final ADS-BOut rules were finalized in 2011. All aircraft will be required to haveADS-B Out equipment to fly in Class A, B and C airspace, plus Class Eairspace above 10,000 feet but not below 2,500 feet, by 2020.

The aircrafts forms the airborne portion of the ADS-B system as theaircrafts provide ADS-B information in the form of a broadcast of itsidentification, position, altitude, velocity, and other information. Theground portion of the ADS-B system consists of ADS-B ground stations,which receive such broadcasts from the aircrafts and direct them to ATCautomation systems for presentation on a controller's display. Aircraftsthat are equipped with ADS-B IN capability can also receive thesebroadcasts and display the information to improve the pilot's situationawareness of other traffic.

Security Issues

Since UAVs typically operate via digital wireless signals, thepossibility exists for a malicious individual, bot, UAV or similardevice, to wirelessly install UAV malware, or exploit software, andbackdoor software that exploits (and overrides, or hacks into) themanufacturers intended operating software. UAVs can easily be identifiedvia their radio frequency signals emitting from their transmitter. Onesuch company, Domestic Drone Countermeasures, LLC, provides a pluralityof sensor equipment that, when positioned in an area of interest, createa custom wireless mesh network among its sensors, to detect a UAVs'location using triangulation.

UAVs are capable of operating without RF communications (also “links”herein), or lost or jammed links. Typically, a flight plan is downloadedinto the UAV's computing system that provides all required navigationdata. These UAVs use the navigation data to operate an autopilot on theUAV, thus negating the requirement for constant radio communicationbetween a UAV and its pilot or other navigation controller. In order todetect these types of UAV flights, one company, Droneshield, has apatent-pending acoustic detection technology to detect UAVs without RFlinks, such as those that operate on autopilot. Typical maximum range ison the order of 200 feet with low-wind conditions. The technologyincludes a database of common UAV acoustic signatures, to reduce thelikelihood of generating false alarms, such as those from lawn mowersand leaf blowers.

Defense contractor, Israel Aerospace Industries, is designing a radartruck that specifically looks for UAV signatures. The U.S. Air ForceJoint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) is being mountedon a test jet for counter-UAV exercises.

A. Moses, M. J. Rutherford, and K. P. Valavanis, individuals at theUniversity of Denver, Colo., have authored a 2011 paper that proposesmeans to detect miniature Air vehicles (<25 kg rotorcraft): “Radar-BasedDetection and Identification for Miniature Air Vehicles,” hereinincorporated by reference. This paper proposes modifying a light weightX band (10.5 GHz) radar system to scan for Doppler signatures of smallair vehicles (UAVs or drones).

W. Shi, et al, with the MITRE Corp., wrote a paper, “Detecting, Trackingand Identifying Airborne Threats with Netted Sensor Fence,” hereinincorporated by reference, using a low-power pulse-Doppler radar“fence,” with a range of about 5 km. Other methods explored included IRdetection with optical sensors, and acoustic sensors.

A paper in 2011 by M. Peacock, et al, with the ECU Security ResearchInstitute (Australia), provided early details of wireless signalidentification and control exploitation: “Towards Detection and Controlof Civilian Unmanned Aerial Vehicles,” herein incorporate by reference.

In November, 2014, the DoD issued an RFI called project Thunderstorm,with the intent to invite technologists to respond to the need todetecting and countering Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) based UAV(Unmanned Aerial systems) with potential WMD payloads (Spiral 15-3b).Demonstrations are expected to be performed in Camp Shelby, Miss. in2Q2015. Pennsylvania State University's Applied Research Laboratory(ARL/PSU) will act as the demonstration director for spiral 15demonstrations.

The DoD is interested in remote detection ranges up to 1,000 feet.Beyond detection of target UAVs, the need exists to detect and identifychemical and/or biological agents and weapons. Chemical agents includebiological warfare agents (e.g., Sarin, and vegetative cells, spores,and standard G, H and V series chemical agents), and radiological andnuclear materials The detectors are expected to be mounted on searchUAVs, capable of 30 minute flights, an autonomous operation (takeoff,surveillance and landing), as well as utilizing and/or detectingwireless systems such as Wi-Fi and cellular radio system infrastructure.Location accuracy should be within +/−10 meters position, and 1 meteraccuracy in altitude.

In the case of RF wireless controlled UAVs, malicious UAV softwareinstallations can occur quickly and without the knowledge or permissionof UAV owner/manufacturer. In an area of interest, wireless signals aremonitored to find UAV-specific characteristics (typically MACaddresses). Using standard wireless protocols and malware exploitsoftware, wireless signal control is re-directed to a wireless, roguecontroller system that assumes control of the targeted UAV. Oncewireless signal control is achieved, other backdoor capabilities includeaccess to various UAV, or quadcopter sensors, video feeds and controlsubsystems.

A specific UAV malware example is “SkyJack,” provided on the Internet bySamy Kamkar (India). Skyjack is primarily a Perl application running ona Linux machine that also includes “aircrack-ng”. This program, incommunication with a wireless adapter such as the Alfa AWUS036H wirelesscard, listens to Wi-Fi signals and identifies wireless networks andclients. UAV manufacturers identities can be determined via their MACaddresses and the IEEE Registration Authority OUI. Once the UAV wirelessnetwork has been identified, such as Parrott, the clients or UAVs, canbe compromised. The program “aireplay-ng,” in addition to the wirelesscard, supports raw packet injection. This capability is used todeauthenticate the true owner of the UAV being targeted. Anotherprogram, “node-ar-drone,” along with the wireless card, reauthenticatesthe targeted UAV with the wireless card associated with the maliciouscontroller system, thus reconnecting it to the now free Parrot AR UAV asits new owner. A Java script called “node.js,” with the wireless card,is then invoked that assumes control of the compromised UAV.

In addition to control, video and sensor data can be received by themalicious system. After the UAV is hijacked, backdoor payload program orbotnet can be installed into the UAV's software operating system, suchas Rahul Sasi's “Maldrone.” Maldrone provides access to sensors viaserial ports, such as: (a) inertial measurements unit (IMU), (b) 6Degree Of Freedom gyroscope, (c) 3 DOF magnetometer, (d) ultrasoundsensor (used for low altitude measurements), (e) a pressure sensor(altitude measurement at all altitudes, and (f) a GPS sensor.

An outline of the steps that Maldrone executes includes:

Step 1: Kills the drone program, e.g., program.elf

Step 2: Setup a proxy serial port for navboard and others.

Step 3: Redirect actual serial port communication to fake ports

Step 4: Patch program.elf and make it open our proxy serial ports.

Step 5: Maldrone communicates to serial ports directly

Now all serial communication to navigation control board goes viaMaldrone. Maldrone, also termed a botnet, can intercept and modify UAVdata on the fly. The botnet uses the wireless UAV connection to connectto a botserver, operated by a botmaster. One wireless adapter useful inthis regard is the Edimax EW-7811Un wireless USB adapter, which allowsSkyjack to launch its own network of botserver(s).

A botmaster is a person who operates the command and control of botnetsfor remote execution. Botnets are typically installed on compromisedmachines via various forms of remote code installations. Detectingbotnets and their servers are often difficult, and identities are hiddenvia proxies. TOR shells disguise their IP address, thus precludingdetection by authorized investigators and law enforcement.

The botmaster can next create a man-in-the-middle attack, byre-establishing a wireless signal authorization request sent to theoriginal UAV owner's wireless controller. Once wireless authenticationis achieved, the UAV's botnet, in conjunction with the botserver, canre-direct signals and controls messages between the UAV and the originalowner's wireless control system. This procedure provides the allusionthat no UAV hacking has occurred, and that no compromises are in effect.

Other types of UAV malware, such as Dongcheol Hond's HSDrone, made atSEWORKS, can spread itself automatically to an entire army of UAVs in awireless networked area.

UAV, often being constructed using stealth materials such as graphitecomposites, generally evade traditional FAA area controller, X-bandradar. A DJI Phantom quad-copter UAV flew successfully and withoutnotice onto the white house property, in January of 2015. Radar systemsare designed to only detect larger objects, such as missiles andairplanes, that operate at higher altitudes. In commercial UAVmanagement, Brian Field-Elliot's PixiePath startup provides services andtools, or adapters for DJI and PIXHawk-based UAVs to send telemetry tothe cloud, then waits for positioning commands, to manage whole fleetsof UAVs. Dan Patt, DARPA, is interested in promoting large aircraft thatcould air-drop smaller UAVs.

Last year, 3D Robotics announced its Iris quadcopter UAV. Like othersimilar products, it can either be flown manually using radio remotecontrol, or it can use its onboard GPS to autonomously fly between aseries of preprogrammed waypoints. The company announced its successor,the Iris+, that includes a Follow Me function, which allows it toautomatically fly along above a moving ground-based GPS-enabled Androiddevice. This means that when equipped with, for example, a GoProactioncam, the UAV can get tracking footage of a person moving around,such as cycling, skiing or surfing.

SUMMARY

The present application is directed to methods and systems of usingunmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).

In an embodiment, an unmanned aerial vehicle system for providingcommunication service to a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)operating within a predetermined operational area of the unmanned aerialvehicle system includes a communication unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV),where the communication UAV includes a communication component forcommunicating with the plurality of UAVs and a second communicationcomponent for communicating with a communication point, where thecommunication point including one of (a) a terrestrial communicationstation, (b) a communication satellite, and (c) a second communicationUAV, when the communication UAV is active within the predeterminedoperational area, wherein the communication UAV provides the pluralityof UAVs communication with the communication point.

In an embodiment, an unmanned aerial vehicle system for providingcommunication service to a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)operating within a predetermined operational area of the unmanned aerialvehicle system includes, where a plurality of communication unmannedaerial vehicles (UAVs), where each of the communication UAVs includes afirst communication component for communicating with the plurality ofUAVs and a second communication component for communicating with acommunication point, the communication point including one of (a) aterrestrial communication station, (b) a communication satellite, and(c) a second communication UAV, when the each communication UAV isactive within the operational area, wherein the plurality ofcommunication UAVs are arranged spatially for providing a communicationcoverage through the first communication component within thepredetermined operational area for the plurality of UAVs, and whereinthe communication UAV provides the plurality of UAVs communication withthe communication point through the second communication component. Inan aspect, the second communication component includes an orientabledirectional antenna for accessing a directed communication signal. In anaspect, one of the communication UAVs further includes a thirdcommunication component, the third communication component including asecond orientable directional antenna for accessing a second directedcommunication signal different from the directed communication signal,where the third communication component for communicating with at leastone other communication point, and wherein the one communication UAVincludes a flight control component for orientating the onecommunication UAV to a position for according sufficient signalstrengths to each of the directed communication signal and the seconddirected communication signal. In an aspect, the plurality ofcommunication UAVs are arranged in a daisy-chain configuration.

In an embodiment, an unmanned aerial vehicle system for providingcommunication service to a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)operating within a predetermined operational area of the unmanned aerialvehicle system includes a communication unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV),where the communication UAV including (A) through (C) following: (A) afirst communication component for communicating with the plurality ofUAVs; (B) a second communication component for communicating with acommunication point, the communication point being one of (a) aterrestrial communication station, (b) a communication satellite, and(c) another of the communication UAVs; and (C) a third communicationcomponent for communicating with one other communication point, when thecommunication UAV is active within the predetermined operational area ofthe unmanned aerial vehicle system, where a processor for performing achannel bonding operation with communication with the communicationpoint through the second communication component and communication withthe one other communication point through the third communicationcomponent, wherein the communication UAV provides the plurality of UAVscommunication with the communication point and the other communicationpoint. In an aspect, communication with the plurality of UAVs throughthe first communication component uses an unallocated spectrum. In anaspect, the communication through the second communication component andthe communication through the third communication component each uses adifferent one of an allocated spectrum. In an aspect, the communicationthrough the second communication component and the communication throughthe third communication component each uses a same one of an allocatedspectrum.

In an embodiment, an unmanned aerial vehicle system for providingcommunication service to a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)operating within a predetermined operational area of the unmanned aerialvehicle system includes a communication unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV),where the communication UAV including a communication component forcommunicating with the plurality of UAVs and a second communicationcomponent for communicating with a communication point, thecommunication point being one of (a) a terrestrial communicationstation, (b) a communication satellite, and (c) a second communicationUAV, when the communication UAV is active within the predeterminedoperational area, wherein the communication point includes a cellularbase station, and wherein cellular communication with the plurality ofUAVs through the communication component is routed through communicationwith the cellular base station through the second communicationcomponent.

In an embodiment, an unmanned aerial vehicle system for providing anaerial traffic service to a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)operating within a predetermined operational area of the unmanned aerialvehicle system includes a communication station, where the communicationstation including a communication component for communicating with theplurality of UAVs and a second communication component for communicatingwith a system providing the aerial traffic service, when thecommunication station is active within the operational area, whereininformation related to communications for the aerial traffic servicethrough the second communication component is provided by thecommunication station to the plurality of UAVs through the communicationcomponent. In an aspect, the communication station is a communicationunmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). In an aspect, the aerial traffic serviceincludes one of an air traffic control (ATC) system, aircraftcommunications addressing and reporting system (ACARS), trafficcollision avoidance system (TCAS), and automatic dependentsurveillance—broadcast (ADS-B) system. In an aspect, the communicationstation further comprises a processor for determining an applicabilityof a communication from the system providing the aerial traffic serviceto at least one of the plurality of the UAVs, and wherein, responsive toa determination of the applicability, information related to thecommunication is sent to an operator of the at least one UAV. In anaspect, the communication station further includes a processor fordetermining an applicability of at least one of the plurality of theUAVs to the system providing the aerial traffic service for a directcommunication between an operator of the at least one UAV and the systemproviding the aerial traffic service, and wherein information forestablishing the direct communication is transmitted to the systemproviding the aerial traffic service. In an aspect, the informationincludes information for establishing a voice communication over apacket network. In an aspect, the communication station furthercomprises a processor for aggregating communications related to theaerial traffic service from the plurality of UAVs and wherein theaggregated communications is transmitted through the secondcommunication component.

In an embodiment, an unmanned aerial vehicle system for providing alocation service for a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)operating within a predetermined operational area of the unmanned aerialvehicle system includes a communication station, where the communicationstation including a communication component for communicating with theplurality of UAVs and a second communication component for communicatingwith a communication point being a terrestrial communication station,when the communication UAV is active within the predeterminedoperational area, wherein the communication station includes a processorfor determining a location estimate of at least one of the plurality ofUAVs using signal characteristics of communication with the at least oneUAV and the communication station. In an aspect, one or more additionallocation estimates of the at least one UAV are accessible to thecommunication station, the one or more location estimates based on oneor more of (a) a location estimate from a geolocation component of theat least one UAV, (b) a location estimate provided by a aerial trafficservice, and (c) a location estimate based on tracking data of the atleast one UAV from the UAV system, wherein the determining by theprocessor includes weighting the location estimate and the one or moreadditional location estimates based on a reliability of each of thelocation estimate and the one or more additional location estimates.

In an embodiment, an unmanned aerial vehicle system for tracking aplurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operating within apredetermined operational area of the unmanned aerial vehicle systemincludes a plurality of communication stations, where each of thecommunication stations including a first communication component forcommunicating with at least one of the plurality of UAVs, when thecommunication station are active within the operational area, whereinthe plurality of communication UAVs are arranged spatially for providinga communication coverage through the first communication componentwithin the predetermined operational area for the plurality of UAVs; anda station including a processor for estimating a path of one of theplurality of UAVs operating in the operational area using one or moreprevious location estimates of the one UAV, where the location estimatesbased on one or more of (a) signal characteristics of communication withthe at least one UAV and the communication station, (b) a locationestimate from a geolocation component of the at least one UAV, (c) alocation estimate provided by a aerial traffic service, and (d) alocation estimate based on tracking data of the plurality of UAVs fromthe UAV system. In an aspect, the one UAV is not communicating with theplurality of communication stations. In an aspect, the one UAV hasexited the predetermined operational area. In an aspect, the estimatingthe path by the processor includes comparing a previous path of the oneUAV with a plurality of flight patterns of UAVs.

In an embodiment, an unmanned aerial vehicle system for controlling apredetermined operational area of the unmanned aerial vehicle system fora plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) includes a plurality ofcommunication stations, where each of the communication stationsincluding a first communication component for communicating with aplurality of UAVs, when the communication station are active within thepredetermined operational area, wherein the plurality of communicationstations are arranged spatially for providing a communication coveragethrough the first communication component within the predeterminedoperational area for the plurality of UAVs operating in thepredetermined operational area, wherein the operating area includes anarea of managed operation for the plurality of UAVs by the unmannedaerial vehicle system through communications between the plurality ofcommunication stations and the plurality of UAVs. In an aspect, one ormore of location estimates and trajectory estimates are tracked for theplurality of UAVs based on one or more of (a) signal characteristics ofcommunications of the plurality of the UAVs and the plurality of thecommunication stations, (b) location estimates from a geolocationcomponent of the plurality of the UAVs, (c) location estimates providedby one or more aerial traffic services, and (d) location estimates basedon tracking data of the plurality of the UAVs from the unmanned aerialvehicle system. In an aspect, a database is accessible by the unmannedaerial vehicle system for setting a representation of the operationalarea, the representation being consistent with the database, thedatabase including one or more conditions for an acceptability of UAVoperation in one or more geographical areas, and wherein the unmannedaerial vehicle system, using a processor, compares the one or morelocation estimates and trajectory estimates with the representation fordetermining an acceptability of operation for one or more of theplurality of the UAVs. In an aspect, communication is sent to the one ormore UAVs through the plurality of the communication stations based onthe acceptability. In an aspect, a database is accessible by the UAVsystem for setting a representation of the operational area, where therepresentation being consistent with the database, the databaseincluding conditions based on one or more rules for acceptability of UAVoperation in one or more geographical areas. In an aspect, the UAVsystem, using a processor, determines a travel path for one of theplurality of the UAVs based on the representation and a predeterminedpath of the one UAV, and wherein communication based on the travel pathis transmitted to the one UAV through the plurality of the communicationstations. In an aspect, the UAV system, using a processor, determines aflow of travel within the operational area for the plurality of the UAVsbased on one or more conditions of the representation, and whereincommunication based on the flow is sent to the one UAV through theplurality of the communication stations. In an aspect, the conditionsinclude rules for airspaces related to the operational area. In anaspect, the conditions include temporary notices for airspaces relatedto the operational area. In an aspect, the conditions includesinformation from an aerial traffic service. In an aspect, thecommunication includes communication for limiting at least one of theUAVs from entering the operational area. In an aspect, communicationbased on the one or more of the location estimates and the trajectoryestimates are transmitted to an aerial traffic service. In an aspect,the communication includes an aggregation of the one or more of the oneor more of the location estimates and the trajectory estimates for atleast one of the UAVs. In an aspect, the unmanned aerial vehicle systemreceives information related to an acceptability of operation of theUAVs through communications from the UAVs through the communicationstations. In an aspect, the information includes information of anentity related to at least one of the UAVs, and wherein UAV systemtracks the operation of the UAVs in the operational area.

In an embodiment, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) includes an opticalsystem for detecting an aerial target within a vicinity of the UAV, whenthe UAV is in operation; a processor for determining, based on adetected flight characteristic of the aerial target by the opticalsystem that the aerial target maintains a constant azimuth and elevationrelative to the UAV; and a flight control system for maneuvering the UAVto avoid a collision with the aerial target.

In an embodiment, an unmanned aerial vehicle system for providing asurveillance service of an airspace to a plurality of unmanned aerialvehicles (UAVs) operating within a predetermined operational area of theunmanned aerial vehicle system includes a communication UAV, where thecommunication UAV including a first communication component forcommunicating with the plurality of UAVs, a second communicationcomponent for transceiving first communication related to thesurveillance service through a first channel, and a second communicationcomponent for transceiving second communication related to thesurveillance service through a second channel, when the communicationUAV is active within the predetermined operational area, and whereininformation related to the first communication and the secondcommunication are provided by the communication UAV to the plurality ofUAVs through the communication component in sufficiently real time.

The phrases “at least one,” “one or more,” and “and/or” refer toopen-ended expressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive inoperation. For example, each of the expressions “at least one of A, Band C,” “at least one of A, B, or C,” “one or more of A, B, and C,” “oneor more of A, B, or C” and “A, B, and/or C” means A alone, B alone, Calone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, or A, B andC together.

The term “a” or “an” entity refers to one or more of that entity. Assuch, the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more” and “at least one” can beused interchangeably herein. It is also to be noted that the terms“comprising,” “including,” and “having” can be used interchangeably.

The term “automatic” and variations thereof refers to any process oroperation done without material human input when the process oroperation is performed. However, a process or operation can beautomatic, even though performance of the process or operation usesmaterial or immaterial human input, if the input is received beforeperformance of the process or operation. Human input is deemed to bematerial if such input influences how the process or operation will beperformed. Human input that consents to the performance of the processor operation is not deemed to be “material.”

The term “computer-readable medium” refers to any tangible storageand/or transmission medium that participate in providing instructions toa processor for execution. Such a medium may take many forms, includingbut not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmissionmedia. Non-volatile media includes, for example, NVRAM, or magnetic oroptical disks. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such as mainmemory. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, afloppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, or any othermagnetic medium, magneto-optical medium, a CD-ROM, any other opticalmedium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patternsof holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, a solid state mediumlike a memory card, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier waveas described hereinafter, or any other medium from which a computer canread. A digital file attachment to e-mail or other self-containedinformation archive or set of archives is considered a distributionmedium equivalent to a tangible storage medium. When thecomputer-readable media is configured as a database, it is to beunderstood that the database may be any type of database, such asrelational, hierarchical, object-oriented, and/or the like. Accordingly,the disclosure is considered to include a tangible storage medium ordistribution medium and prior art-recognized equivalents and successormedia, in which the software implementations of the present disclosureare stored.

The term “module,” refers to any known or later developed hardware,software, firmware, artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic, or combinationof hardware and software that is capable of performing the functionalityassociated with that element.

The terms “determine,” “calculate,” and “compute,” and variationsthereof are used interchangeably and include any type of methodology,process, mathematical operation or technique.

It shall be understood that the term “means” shall be given its broadestpossible interpretation in accordance with 35 U.S.C., Section 112(f).Accordingly, a claim incorporating the term “means” shall cover allstructures, materials, or acts set forth herein, and all of theequivalents thereof. Further, the structures, materials or acts and theequivalents thereof shall include all those described in the summary ofthe invention, brief description of the drawings, detailed description,abstract, and claims themselves.

Embodiments herein presented are not exhaustive, and further embodimentsmay be now known or later derived by one skilled in the art.

Functional units described in this specification and figures may belabeled as modules, or outputs in order to more particularly emphasizetheir structural features. A module and/or output may be implemented ashardware, e.g., comprising circuits, gate arrays, off-the-shelfsemiconductors such as logic chips, transistors, or other discretecomponents. They may be fabricated with Very-large-scale integration(VLSI) techniques. A module and/or output may also be implemented inprogrammable hardware such as field programmable gate arrays,programmable array logic, programmable logic devices or the like.Modules may also be implemented in software for execution by varioustypes of processors. In addition, the modules may be implemented as acombination of hardware and software in one embodiment.

An identified module of programmable or executable code may, forinstance, include one or more physical or logical blocks of computerinstructions that may, for instance, be organized as an object,procedure, or function. Components of a module need not necessarily bephysically located together but may include disparate instructionsstored in different locations which, when joined logically together,include the module and achieve the stated function for the module. Thedifferent locations may be performed on a network, device, server, andcombinations of one or more of the same. A module and/or a program ofexecutable code may be a single instruction, or many instructions, andmay even be distributed over several different code segments, amongdifferent programs, and across several memory devices. Similarly, dataor input for the execution of such modules may be identified andillustrated herein as being an encoding of the modules, or being withinmodules, and may be embodied in any suitable form and organized withinany suitable type of data structure.

In one embodiment, the system, components and/or modules discussedherein may include one or more of the following: a server or othercomputing system including a processor for processing digital data,memory coupled to the processor for storing digital data, an inputdigitizer coupled to the processor for inputting digital data, anapplication program stored in one or more machine data memories andaccessible by the processor for directing processing of digital data bythe processor, a display device coupled to the processor and memory fordisplaying information derived from digital data processed by theprocessor, and a plurality of databases or data management systems.

In one embodiment, functional block components, screen shots, userinteraction descriptions, optional selections, various processing steps,and the like are implemented with the system. It should be appreciatedthat such descriptions may be realized by any number of hardware and/orsoftware components configured to perform the functions described.Accordingly, to implement such descriptions, various integrated circuitcomponents, e.g., memory elements, processing elements, logic elements,look-up tables, input-output devices, displays and the like may be used,which may carry out a variety of functions under the control of one ormore microprocessors or other control devices.

In one embodiment, software elements may be implemented with anyprogramming, scripting language, and/or software developmentenvironment, e.g., Fortran, C, C++, C#, COBOL, Apache Tomcat, SpringRoo, Web Logic, Web Sphere, assembler, PERL, Visual Basic, SQL, SQLStored Procedures, AJAX, extensible markup language (XML), Flex, Flash,Java, .Net and the like. Moreover, the various functionality in theembodiments may be implemented with any combination of data structures,objects, processes, routines or other programming elements.

In one embodiment, any number of conventional techniques for datatransmission, signaling, data processing, network control, and the likeas one skilled in the art will understand may be used. Further,detection or prevention of security issues using various techniquesknown in the art, e.g., encryption, may also be used in embodiments ofthe invention. Additionally, many of the functional units and/ormodules, e.g., shown in the figures, may be described as being “incommunication” with other functional units and/or modules. Being “incommunication” refers to any manner and/or way in which functional unitsand/or modules, such as, but not limited to, input/output devices,computers, laptop computers, PDAs, mobile devices, smart phones,modules, and other types of hardware and/or software may be incommunication with each other. Some non-limiting examples includecommunicating, sending and/or receiving data via a network, a wirelessnetwork, software, instructions, circuitry, phone lines, Internet lines,fiber optic lines, satellite signals, electric signals, electrical andmagnetic fields and/or pulses, and/or the like and combinations of thesame.

By way of example, communication among the users, subscribers and/orserver in accordance with embodiments of the invention may beaccomplished through any suitable communication channels, such as, forexample, a telephone network, an extranet, an intranet, the Internet,cloud based communication, point of interaction devices (point of saledevice, personal digital assistant, cellular phone, kiosk, and thelike), online communications, off-line communications, wirelesscommunications, RF communications, cellular communications, Wi-Ficommunications, transponder communications, local area network (LAN)communications, wide area network (WAN) communications, networked orlinked devices and/or the like. Moreover, although embodiments of theinvention may be implemented with TCP/IP communications protocols, othertechniques of communication may also be implemented using IEEEprotocols, IPX, Appletalk, IP-6, NetBIOS, OSI or any number of existingor future protocols. Specific information related to the protocols,standards, and application software utilized in connection with theInternet is generally known to those skilled in the art and, as such,need not be detailed herein.

In embodiments of the invention, the system provides and/or receives acommunication or notification via the communication system to or from anend user. The communication is typically sent over a network, e.g., acommunication network. The network may utilize one or more of aplurality of wireless communication standards, protocols or wirelessinterfaces (including LTE, CDMA, WCDMA, TDMA, UMTS, GSM, GPRS, OFDMA,WiMAX, FLO TV, Mobile DTV, WLAN, and Bluetooth technologies), and may beprovided across multiple wireless network service providers. The systemmay be used with any mobile communication device service (e.g., texting,voice calls, games, videos, Internet access, online books, etc.), SMS,MMS, email, mobile, land phone, tablet, smartphone, television,vibrotactile glove, voice carry over, video phone, pager, relay service,teletypewriter, and/or GPS and combinations of the same.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a component view of a UAV according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of an emergency object avoidance procedureof a UAV according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary scenario of a performance of anemergency object avoidance procedure according to an embodiment.

FIGS. 4A-4D illustrate exemplary scenario of a payload delivery systemusing UAVs according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 describes the traditional air-to-air surveillance methods usingthe 1090/1030 MHz band RF links to provide other aircraft informationabout each other.

FIG. 6 shows a UAV package delivery flight path corridor and absolute,“NO-FLY” zones according to an embodiment.

FIG. 7 shows an allowed flight area consisting of a horizontal corridor,a “NO-FLY” zone in red, and an accepted vertical drop-off path accordingto an embodiment.

FIG. 8 shows a depiction of package delivery UAVs flying along a flightcorridor according to an embodiment.

FIG. 9 illustrates how UAV RF communications can be secured usingvirtual private networks (VPNs) or tunnels, along with packetencryption, such as AES, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 10 illustrates a diagram of a UAT, ADS-B server-based system formultiple UAVs according to an embodiment.

FIG. 11 illustrates a UAV flight path corridor system according to anembodiment.

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of an avionics systemsfor a UAV according to an embodiment.

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary diagram of a distance-based positiondetermination system for a UAV system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary diagram of a angle-based positiondetermination system for a UAV system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 15 illustrates an exemplary diagram of a layout of a general ADS-Bsystem for a UAV system according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In order to provide a more full disclosure of UAV systems and methods,the following U.S. Patents are fully incorporated herein by reference:

-   -   (a) U.S. Pat. No. 7,469,183, entitled “Navigating UAVs in        Formation,” which is directed to navigating UAVs in formation,        including assigning pattern positions to each of a multiplicity        of UAVs flying together in a pattern; identifying a waypoint for        each UAV in dependence upon the UAV's pattern position; piloting        the UAVs in the pattern toward their waypoints in dependence        upon a navigation algorithm, where the navigation algorithm        includes repeatedly comparing the UAV's intended position and        the UAV's actual position and calculating a corrective flight        vector when the distance between the UAV's actual and intended        positions exceeds an error threshold. The actual position of the        UAV may be taken from a GPS receiver on board the UAV;    -   (b) U.S. Pat. No. 7,970,532, entitled “Flight Path Planning to        Reduce Detection of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle,” which is        directed to methods and systems for planning, managing, and        executing the flight path of an unmanned aerial vehicle are        disclosed. In particular, the methods and systems are designed        to reduce the likelihood that the UAV will be detected by        determining a flight path based on the proximity of the UAV to a        point of interest and the visual, acoustic, and infrared        signatures of the UAV relative to a point of interest.        Additionally, the methods and systems enable a UAV operator to        compare a recommend flight path and an altered flight path based        on how the altered flight path changes the proximity of the UAV        to a point of interest, and changes the visual, acoustic, and        infrared signatures of the UAV relative to a point of interest;    -   (c) U.S. Pat. No. 8,315,794, entitled “Method and System for        GPS-denied Navigation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles,” which is        direct to a method and system for navigation of one or more        unmanned aerial vehicles in an urban environment is provided.        The method comprises flying at least one GPS-aided unmanned        aerial vehicle at a first altitude over an urban environment,        and flying at least one GPS-denied unmanned aerial vehicle at a        second altitude over the urban environment that is lower than        the first altitude. The unmanned aerial vehicles are in        operative communication with each other so that images can be        transmitted therebetween. A first set of images from the        GPS-aided unmanned aerial vehicle is captured, and a second set        of images from the GPS-denied unmanned aerial vehicle is also        captured. Image features from the second set of images are then        matched with corresponding image features from the first set of        images. A current position of the GPS-denied unmanned aerial        vehicle is calculated based on the matched image features from        the first and second sets of images;    -   (d) U.S. Pat. No. 8,543,265, entitled “Systems and Methods for        Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Navigation,” which is directed to        systems and methods for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) navigation        are presented. A UAV is configured with at least one flight        corridor and flight path, and a first UAV flight plan is        calculated. During operation of the first UAV flight plan, the        UAV visually detects an obstacle, and calculates a second UAV        flight plan to avoid the obstacle. Furthermore, during operation        of either the first or the second UAV flight plan, the UAV        acoustically detects an unknown aircraft, and calculates a third        UAV flight plan to avoid the unknown aircraft. Additionally, the        UAV may calculate a new flight plan based on other input, such        as information received from a ground control station;    -   (e) U.S. Pat. No. 8,798,922, entitled “Determination of Flight        Path for Unmanned Aircraft in Event of In-flight Contingency,”        which is directed to an enhanced control system for an unmanned        aerial vehicle adds constraints to the process of choosing a        flight path in the event of an in-flight contingency, such as        engine out or an encounter with jamming, which forces a        diversion or unplanned landing. The constraints are: (1) ensure        communications are available when needed during contingency        operations; and (2) ensure signals from a global positioning        system (or other navigation system) are available when needed        during contingency operations;    -   (f) U.S. Pat. No. 8,965,679, entitled “Systems and Methods for        Unmanned Aircraft System Collision Avoidance,” which is directed        to systems and methods are operable to maintain a proscribed        Self Separation distance between a UAV and an object. In an        example system, consecutive intruder aircraft locations relative        to corresponding locations of a self aircraft are determined,        wherein the determining is based on current velocities of the        intruder aircraft and the self aircraft, and wherein the        determining is based on current flight paths of the intruder        aircraft and the self aircraft. At least one evasive maneuver        for the self aircraft is computed using a processing system        based on the determined consecutive intruder aircraft locations        relative to the corresponding locations of the self aircraft;    -   (g) U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2010/0224732, entitled “Wirelessly        Controlling Unmanned Aircraft and Accessing Associated        Surveillance Data,” which is directed to controlling a UAV may        be accomplished by using a wireless device (e.g., cell phone) to        send a control message to a receiver at the UAV via a wireless        telecommunication network (e.g., an existing cellular network        configured primarily for mobile telephone communication). In        addition, the wireless device may be used to receive        communications from a transmitter at the UAV, wherein the        wireless device receives the communications from the transmitter        via the wireless network. Examples of such communications        include surveillance information and UAV monitoring information.    -   (h) U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2014/0129059, entitled “Method and        Apparatus for Extending the Operation of An Unmanned Aerial        Vehicle,” which is directed to a method of extending the        operation of a UAV. The method comprises detecting that an        energy storage device on board the UAV is depleted below a        threshold level, landing the UAV at a base station, and        initiating operation of the base station to cause a replacement        mechanism thereof to remove the energy storage device on board        the UAV from the UAV and to replace this with another energy        storage device.    -   (i) U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2014/0249693, entitled “Controlling        Unmanned Aerial Vehicles as a Flock to Synchronize Flight in        Aerial Displays,” which is directed to a system for flock-based        control of a plurality of UAVs. The system includes UAVs each        including a processor executing a local control module and        memory accessible by the processor for use by the local control        module. The system includes a ground station system with a        processor executing a fleet manager module and with memory        storing a different flight plan for each of the UAVs. The flight        plans are stored on the UAVs, and, during flight operations,        each of the local control modules independently controls the        corresponding UAV to execute its flight plan without ongoing        control from the fleet manager module. The fleet manager module        is operable to initiate flight operations by concurrently        triggering initiation of the flight plans by the multiple UAVs.        Further, the local control modules monitor front and back and        communication channels and, when a channel is lost, operate the        UAV in a safe mode.    -   (j) U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2012/0038501, entitled “Self-Configuring        Universal Access Transceiver,” which is directed to techniques        that allow information to be acquired by an ADS-B system of an        aircraft without the installation of ADS-B dedicated flight crew        controls or wired data interfaces in the aircraft.    -   (k) U.S. Pat. No. 7,469,183, entitled “Navigating UAVs in        Formation,” which is directed to navigating UAVs in formation by        waypoints and pattern positions.

The terms described below are provided for convenience in understandingat least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Thus, the termdescriptions following do not serve to necessarily define or limit thescope of these terms in all embodiments disclosed herein. In general,the term descriptions immediately below are also referenced in variousportions of this disclosure of which such portions may expand upon theseterms.

An “unmanned aircraft system” (UAS), “unmanned aerial vehicle” (UAV),“unpiloted aerial vehicle,” “remotely piloted aircraft” (RPA), “aerialdrone,” “drone,” or the like refers to a system or vehicle capable ofdirected flight without a human pilot aboard. The International CivilAviation Organization (ICAO) classifies UASs into two types underCircular 328 AN/190, herein incorporated by reference: autonomousaircraft, which are currently considered unsuitable for regulation dueto legal and liability issues, and remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) whichare subject to civil regulation under ICAO and under the relevantnational aviation authority.

An “airspace” refers to all or a portion of a three-dimensional volumeof the atmosphere above a patch of the terrestrial surface (includingwater). The airspace may be a subdivided by one or more classifications(e.g., classes in accordance to governmental or civil regulations orprotocol), which may be designated in accordance with one or moreterrestrial features or installations (e.g., airports, cities, militaryinstallations, geographical features such as mountains) or height levelabove ground (e.g., flight level, mean sea level (MSL), or above groundlevel (AGL)).

A “controlled airspace” refers to an airspace having some sort of airtraffic control (ATC) therefor, wherein such ATC may exercise some formof control of vehicles flying in the controlled airspace, but it is notnecessary that the air vehicles flying in the controlled airspaceinteract with the ATC.

An “uncontrolled airspace” refers to an airspace where there is noauthorized ATC for providing air traffic control, but an ATC may provideadvisory information related to air traffic in such uncontrolledairspace.

An “object” in or occupying an airspace generally refers to a solidphysical object is in the airspace. As used herein, the object usuallyrefers to an object of at least a sufficient size, mass and/or velocityto operationally affect one or more of the following aspects of a UAVcoming in proximity or contact with the object: (a) the flight path ofthe UAV, (b) the structural integrity of the UAV, or (c) the safety ofthe UAV. An “object” is usually not air itself, small aerial particulatesuch as air particles, moisture, snow, or dust or small flying insectsunless such things operationally affect one or more of theabove-identified aspects. The object may be freely moving through theairspace, under its own power (e.g., flying animals such as birds,self-powered aircrafts, missiles), or with no internal power (e.g.,gliders, launched projectiles, falling objects under the force ofgravity such as meteors), or occupying the airspace but attached to apoint on the terrestrial surface (e.g., buildings and extensions,antenna and cell towers).

A “device” (also referred to herein as a “component,” or “subcomponent”)used in operating a UAV refers to one or a combination of mechanical,electronic (including software), structural, or other components thatcontribute to the operation of the UAV. The device may be (i) physicallylocated at or connected to the UAV, (ii) accessible by the UAV (e.g.,physically, electronically, or wirelessly) while the UAV is operational,and/or (ii) a component integral to the UAV.

A “communication component” of a UAV refers to one or more components ofthe UAV for communicating with a device or system that is not includedin the UAV (e.g., a remote controller, flight traffic controller,landing port, and flight guidance systems along the flight path).Because the UAV may be typically configured to be operational as avehicle autonomously moving from one location to another, communicationto and from the UAV with an external device or system is most likelyperformed wirelessly. For example, wireless communication may include(a) direct wireless signal communication between the UAV and theexternal device or system such communication including communicationsvia, e.g., free-space optical communication using visible, or invisiblelight such as infrared light, direct radio or spread spectrum signalssuch as direct radio, 802.11, or Bluetooth signals, and/or (b) indirectwireless communication at least routing the communication (or a portionthereof) between the UAV and the external device or system through anintermediate server provider or exchange (e.g., through the Internet orother wide area network (WAN), cellular or personal communicationservice (PCS) network, communication satellite, and/or terrestrialmicrowave communication network).

An “orientation component” of a UAV refers to one or more componentsthat measures the relative position, direction, and/or alignment of theUAV without needing an external reference point (e.g., communicatingwith an external device or system to obtain or determine the relativeposition, direction, and/or alignment of the UAV). Typical orientationcomponents of a UAV may include one or more of an inertial measurementsunit (IMU) (e.g., accelerometer, magnetometer, and gyroscope), andultrasound and/or pressure sensor (for altitude measurement).

A “geolocation component” of a UAV refers to a component that providesthe UAV with data indicative of (i) an absolute position (orgeographical extent) of the UAV, wherein such position or extent isprovided in a predetermined geographical coordinate system (e.g., areal-world latitude and longitude geographic location on Earth and/ortogether with an altitude measurement), and/or (ii) a location relativeto a certain position or object, of which the position or object itselfmay be either fixed (e.g., a building) or moving (e.g., a movingvehicle) (e.g., the UAV being at a certain direction and distance, e.g.,200 feet due west and 500 feet above, from the position or object).

A geolocation component may determine its location without any real timegeolocation communication with or access to a geographical informationdevice external to the UAV (e.g., the UAV may be able to calculate orestimate its current position, during flight, simply by accessing UAVonboard data without requiring UAV geolocation data, indicative of thiscurrent position, being communicated with any device separate from theUAV). In particular, UAV onboard data may include: the starting positionof the UAV, its flight path data, (e.g., the time of flight, a record ofits speed and speed changes, orientation and orientation changes throughthe various orientation components, and other factors affecting theflight path such as wind speeds, all of which can be detected or derivedby the various components in the UAV). However, such a geolocationcomponent may also communicate with or access an external resource in(near) real time for determining the UAV's current position. Forexample, a “geolocation component” may include a global navigationsatellite system (GNSS) unit that tracks GNSS signals provided by GNSSsatellites (such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), GlobalNavigation Satellite System (GLONSS), Galileo, Indian RegionalNavigation Satellite System (IRNSS), or BeiDou-2) to calculate thelatitude and longitude position of the UAV. In another example, such ageolocation component may determine geolocation information bycommunications with one or more wireless telecommunicationinfrastructures as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,994,591 issued Mar. 31,2015 (entitled “Locating a Mobile Station and Applications Therefor”),and/or U.S. Pat. No. 7,764,231 issued Jul. 27, 2010 (entitled “WirelessLocation Using Multiple Mobile Station Location Techniques”), each ofwhich is herein fully incorporated by reference.

A “navigation component” of a UAV refers to one or more componentsincluded in the UAV, wherein for moving the UAV from a first location toa second location, each such component: (i) determines or usesinformation indicative of a route or flight path for navigating the UAVfrom the first location to the second location, (ii) calculates adirection of the UAV to travel for navigating the UAV from the firstlocation to the second location, and/or (iii) directs or controls theflight of the UAV using the information of (i), and/or the direction of(ii). One example of a navigation component may includes a computationalcomponent or system that determines the UAV's flight path consistentwith UAV flight and/or operation related information, such as stored orreceived information related to (a) navigational charts and maps, (b)flight area limitations (e.g., one or more “no fly zones”), (c)elevation information including minimum or maximum UAV operatingelevations, (d) governmental regulations or restrictions (e.g., federalor local government regulations or ordinances for: noise abatement,flight speed, or other restrictions based on location, time of day, orother criteria such as private property access restrictions), (e)weather conditions along various points of the UAV flight path, (f)broadcasts from another one or more UAVs and/or fixed terrestrialinstallations containing information such as identification of thebroadcast source, environmental information, UAV distance or directionfrom such a broadcast source, or other information) which may assist theUAV in developing or altering a flight plan for the UAV. Another exampleof a navigation component may include a computational component orsystem that uses a received flight plan developed at a source externalto the UAV (e.g., by a remote operator or an external computing system)as a basis for a flight path and making real-time adjustments to theflight path taking into account the various flight-related informationas discussed above and herein in this disclosure.

A “flight control component” of a UAV refers to one or more componentsthat affect the flight dynamics (e.g., controlling the UAV's speed anddirection of flight) of the UAV. For example, in a rotorcraft type ofUAV (e.g., quadcopter), the flight control components includes one ormore of each of the rotors and the respective motor/engine (e.g., wherethe flight dynamics of the rotorcraft is provided by spinning and thechanging of the direction and speed of the spin of the individualrotors). In another example, the flight control components of afixed-wing type of UAV may include one or more of the throttle(controlling the thrust of the engine), aileron (controlling the rolland pitch), and the rudder (controlling the yaw).

A “sensory component” of a UAV refers to one or more components thatreceives or captures information within the physical vicinity of the UAVbut that are not directed to the UAV (like communications to and fromexternal sources with the UAV). Examples of a sensory component mayinclude one or more of a camera or a microphone installed on the UAVthat captures respectively video and images and sounds within thevicinity of the UAV. In another example, a sensory component may includeextra-human sensory components like radar (e.g., for detecting otherobjects or obstructions within the vicinity of the UAV for collisionavoidance or other uses) and weather Doppler (e.g., for detectingpresent weather conditions within the vicinity of the UAV). Sensorycomponents may provide the information to other components of the UAVfor further operations of the UAV (e.g., providing video and audio feedsto the communication components for communicating with a remote operatorand for the remote operator to control and pilot the UAV, providing suchfeeds or other information to the navigation components for automaticnavigation and flight operation).

A “limit” or “limitation” of a UAV refers to a constraint or restrictionplaced on the UAV, either as a result of the intrinsic limitation of theUAV, such as an operational limit limiting the performance of the UAV,or by prescribed restriction, such as a regulatory limit as provided bythe government.

An “operational limit” of the UAV may include one or more of a safe oremergency operational thresholds of the UAV or one or more components ofthe UAV (e.g., the speed, operational ceiling, maneuverability, or weighlimit of payload of the UAV due to engine power or other factors, or therange of the UAV due to limitation on battery power or communicationdistance).

A “regulatory limit” of the UAV may include one or more of public (e.g.,federal, state, local) or private (e.g., private property rights such asoverhead flight over a property) law, regulation, ordinance, rules, orother limitations on one or more operations of the UAV (e.g., speed,flight level, flight path, operation in adverse weather, locations ofrestricted or “do not fly” areas, etc.).

An “operating mode” of a UAV refers to any one of a predetermined set ofone or more UAV operating states, wherein for each state there isassociated data for configuring the UAV components for activating,deactivating, and/or operating UAV components in accordance with thedata. For example, the UAV may have an operating mode for each of:taking off, landing, hovering, decoupling from or to a cargo load,avoiding a midair collision, etc. Note, such operating modes need not bedistinct from one another. For example, an operating mode for use whenthe UAV is following a predetermined flight path may activate a hoveroperating mode upon detecting upcoming high wind shear.

In one type of an operating mode referred to as an “automatic operatingmode”, the UAV may be operational (e.g., navigating and flying)according to pre-defined instructions for operating states, where thepre-defined instructions is stored within the UAV without consulting anyexternal source of instructions for operating the UAV during flight(e.g., for directions on navigating or flying the UAV). However, a UAVin this type of automatic operating mode may still be interrupted forother instructions (e.g., emergency landing/shut-off) or a changing ofthe operating mode (e.g., changing to a manual operating mode).

In one type of a operating mode referred to as an “directed operatingmode”, the UAV may be dependent on instructions from an external source(e.g., a human operator or an external computer/electronic operator) foroperating the UAV (e.g., direct, navigate, and fly). A UAV in this typeof directed operating mode may still retain the ability to intervenewith certain safe operating instructions/procedures, such as to safetyfly, hover, or land if communication with the external source providingthe instructions is severed or if an emergency situation develops at ornear the UAV and it is determined that the external source operator maynot have the resources or ability to provide adequate instructions(e.g., limited reaction time or flying skill for certain automaticmaneuvers or limited instruction/command bandwidth of the communicationlink which may be due to weak communication signal).

In one type of a operating mode referred to as an “hybrid operatingmode”, the UAV may be in automatic operating mode for certain portions(operations) of navigation and/or flight, and directed operating modefor certain portions (operations) of navigation and/or flight. Forexample, a UAV may be in directed operating mode with a remote humanoperator responsible for the direct duty of flying the UAV. However, theflight must be within certain rules or parameters (e.g., area, speed, orheight restrictions as provided by certain regulatory limits). The UAVmay be pre-programmed to take over the flight in an automatic operatingmode to satisfy such flight rules and overriding the remote humanoperator. Further, a UAV in the hybrid operating mode may still retainthe ability to direct certain safe operating instructions/procedures(e.g., emergency landing or avoidance procedures) as discussed above andherein with respect to this disclosure with respect to the manualoperating mode.

FIG. 1 illustrates a component view of an embodiment of a UAV 100 forthe present disclosure. The UAV 100 includes one or more of a UAVcontrol system 110, communication components 120 and geolocationcomponents 130, each coupled to one or more (an array) of antennas 125,navigation components 140, orientation components 150, sensorycomponents 160, and flight control components 170 (e.g., the flightcontrol components including rotors, motors, stabilizers, kineticmovement transfer mechanisms, etc.).

The UAV 100 may be extendable in that additional modules and/orcomponents (e.g., attachable modules) may be provided. Examples of suchadditional modules may include a cargo hold for transporting a payload(with or without automatic loading and unloading of the payload),attachable/detachable containers for water, fertilizer, or other liquidswith individual embodiments of such containers having a controlledrelease mechanism for dispensing the container contents. Such a UAV 100with container may useful for transferring the container contents tofarming, fire-fighting, or other sites or persons in need of suchcontents. In particular, for farming and emergency applications (e.g.,firefighting) the container contents may be controllably dispensed atdiscrete sites (e.g., liquid fertilizer at individual plants, or fireretardant at discrete fire locations). Of course, various types ofcontainers may be provided or attached to the UAV 100 for carryingvarious types of cargo. Further, the UAV 100 may include lights,communication beacons, or other components for utilization by the UAV,e.g., during flight or landing. In one embodiment, the UAV 100 may alsoinclude solar panels or other power sources that can help power the UAVto extend the range or operation of the UAV, e.g., before having toreturn to a service facility for recharging/refueling. The UAV 100 mayalso include appendages for activities (such as grasping, walking,running, climbing, and/or swimming) in a manner similar to variousrobots that have been recently developed for such activities. Moreover,the UAV 100 may be artificially intelligent in performing particulartasks in that, e.g., the UAV may generate and perform new or uniquesequences of behaviors when the UAV encounters a situation orenvironment for which the UAV has no predetermined technique foraddressing.

One of the issues with UAVs is being able to protect its components fromphysical damage or water damage if it falls into a body of water, beingthat the components may be high value to the overall costs of the UAV,and being able to salvage some components may be a cost-effective valueto the users of the UAV. In an embodiment, except for the flight controlcomponents 170, the remainder of the UAV 100 may be enclosed in adurable material, waterproof casing(s). If the UAV falls into water,most components (at least without the waterproof enclosure) may besalvageable. Further, a waterproof enclosure may help protecting the UAVwhen operating in elements such as rain (e.g., avoid exposing theelectronic components to conditions that may lead to malfunctioning orshort-circuiting).

In another embodiment, the enclosure of the UAV may be constructed frommaterials and/or construction methods (e.g., Faraday cage) that shieldsthe internal electronics from electromagnetic (EM) radiation (e.g., fromsolar activities, cosmic rays, or other natural or manmade activities).This may help protect the electronics components of the UAV frommalfunctioning or short-circuiting, or other issues.

Flight and Navigation:

One important aspect for operating a UAV is the ability to safelyoperate the UAV at all times while the UAV is operating in an area. Safeoperation is very important to a UAV because of the unmanned nature(thus having at least perceived and perhaps real image that the UAV mayat times lack the ability of a human operator to react to at least someunforeseen circumstances) combined with the large consequences in thecase of malfunction, error, or other unforeseen circumstances (e.g.,potentially UAVs falling from the sky at high velocity or colliding withother objects in the sky). One way to minimize such consequences is forthe UAV to have the ability to get to a safest condition (e.g., quicklylanding and terminating operation or, if quick landing is not possible,staying in place (hovering) or maneuvering to safe airspace (to avoidneeding to keep make complicated calculations and decisions in dangerousairspace that may have or expected to have difficult conditions such asadverse weather, other objects or obstructions) in the shortest amountof time possible (as the chance of accident increases with the amount oftime left in dangerous conditions).

It has been noted, in Unmanned Aircraft Systems: Federal Actions Neededto Ensure Safety and Expand Their Potential Uses within the NationalAirspace System, United States Government Accountability Office, May2008, herein incorporated by reference, that FAA requires UAVs to meetthe national airspace system's safety requirements before they routinelyaccess the system, which includes and UAV presently do not have theability to detect, sense, and avoid other aircraft and airborne objectsin a manner similar to manned aircraft. With an aircraft, therequirements call for a person operating the aircraft to maintainvigilance so as to see and avoid other aircraft. Without a pilot onboard to scan the sky, UAVs do not have an on-board capability todirectly “see” other aircraft. Consequently, the UAV must possess thecapability to sense and avoid the object using on-board equipment, or doso with assistance of a human on the ground or in a chase aircraft, orby using other means, such as radar. Many UAVs, particularly smallermodels, will likely operate at altitudes below 18,000 ft, sharingairspace with other objects, such as gliders. Sensing and avoiding theseother objects represents a particular challenge for UAVs, since theother objects normally do not transmit an electronic signal to identifythemselves and FAA cannot mandate that all aircraft or objects possessthis capability so that UAVs can operate safely.

In an embodiment, the UAV would be aware of its immediate and not-soimmediate vicinity. The awareness may be active regardless of theoperating mode that the UAV is presently in (e.g., automatic operatingmode, manual operating mode, or hybrid operating mode).

The vicinity of the UAV may be dividing into one or more zones, whichmay include the immediate zone A, the operating zone B, and theobserving zone C, explanatory purpose. The vicinity of the UAV may alsoinclude a partial area of the flight path zone D. Here, it is noted thatthe zones may change in real-time (or near real-time) based on thepresent position (e.g., location, height, etc.) and operating condition(e.g., speed, atmosphere and weather condition, etc.) of the UAV.

It is noted that the other objects (that may occupy a simultaneous zoneas the UAV) may include objects that have the ability and are relativelydependable to sense and avoid the UAV (e.g., maneuverable human orcomputer controlled aerial vehicles, certain intelligent flying animals)and objects that have no such ability or dependability (e.g., inanimateobjects such as projectiles, meteor, or the like, certain relativelyunintelligent flying animals). It is further noted that the otherobjects may include objects that have an obtainable and expectableflight path (e.g., human or computer controlled aerial vehiclesfollowing a flight plan and/or ATC instructions, inanimate objects thathave no self-power and follows a predictable path) and objects that haveno such obtainable and expectable flight path (e.g., flying animals,rogue or malfunctioning aerial vehicles).

The immediate zone A is the zone presently occupied by the UAV and thevicinity of which there would be a high probability of accident (e.g.,collision) which another object that is also within this immediate zoneA. For example, the immediate zone A may include the vicinity of allportions of the UAV (including extensions of UAV such as tows orantennas) at which the UAV is currently occupying and/or may be expectedto occupy in an immediate future, even if the UAV would performmaneuvers up to the limit (either operational or regulatory limits) tomove the UAV in another direction away from the expected occupationvicinity.

Specifically, if the UAV is flying forward along a flight path at acertain speed, even if the UAV directs its flight control to reverse (orredirect in another direction) the flight path, there will be some timelag between the direction to the flight control and when the UAV isactually reversed (or redirected) (e.g., for a quadcopter UAV forexample, because the rotors of the UAV may need to change speed and/orreverse spin and affect the surrounding air to change direction tonegate the forward momentum of the UAV). In that time lag, the UAV isstill moving forward (or at least one component of the UAV's motion isforward), requiring additional space. As such, other objects that mayoccupy this additional space are in danger of collision with the UAV.Therefore, it is necessary that the UAV is the only object that isoccupying this immediate zone A.

It is further noted that some maneuvers and change of direction mayrequire more space (in some directions) than others. For example, for aUAV moving forward and a reverse maneuver is needed, more forward spaceis needed as compared to a maneuver to turn in a 90 degrees direction(e.g., turn left or right) because the reverse maneuver needs to negatethe entirety of the forward momentum of the UAV (thus requiring moretime) while the 90 degree turn transfers at least a portion of theforward momentum into angular momentum for the turn (thus requiring lesstime). In a further example, a UAV that is turning in one direction(e.g., to the right) may need more space in that same direction toaffect a change of flight path from that direction (e.g., a UAV that isturning right may have an immediate zone A with a larger rightarea/volume than the left area/volume due to the needed additionalspace). This is effectively based on a similar reason as the UAV movingforward needing an immediate zone A with a larger forward area. In anembodiment, immediate zone A may be defined/calculated to take intoaccount the maneuvering required (e.g., if it is known that UAV willonly need to perform certain subset of maneuvers at certain times suchas if the UAV is operating at a known site or environment (e.g., indoor)where it is known that there are no other objects expected) at asubstantially present or immediate future time.

In a preferred embodiment, all available maneuvers should be availableto the UAV, and the immediate zone A accordingly. It is also noted thatthe maneuvering space needed may depend on conditions such as the speedof the UAV, weather conditions, altitude, and other conditions. Theimmediate zone A may be defined/calculated accordingly or may be definedas the maximum maneuvering space needed based on the limits of the UAVfor the most safety (or as required by rules and/or regulations).

The operating zone B is the next zone of the vicinity of the UAVextending from (and encompassing) the immediate zone A and includes areasonable operating distance for the UAV (in terms of the distance thatwould allow the UAV a certain reasonable time to perform flight maneuverand/or operations). For example, the time allowance may be on the orderof seconds or minutes or more. In this time allowance, the operatingzone B would allow the UAV enough distance to perform certain flightmaneuvers that are necessary in the short term such as to calculate andexecute a maneuver that could confidently avoid one or more otherobjects (and in view of their expected flight paths) or keeping a safedistance (time) from other objects. Such maneuvers may include one ormore of changing directions of the flight path, speeding up and slowingdown, stopping (hovering), and landing.

Similar to the immediate zone A, the operating zone B also may bedefined/calculated based on the distance (time) needed to perform thecertain maneuvers based on the present operating state of the UAV. Forexample, if the UAV is moving relatively slowly, it may need lessdistance to turn or stop (but it may also take more time to perform alarge radius turn since the UAV have less momentum, which should also betaken into account). Alternatively, if the UAV is moving relativelyfast, it may need more distance to turn (with a larger radius) or stop(but may perform the turn in less time due to the higher angularmomentum). As such, the size (distance) operating zone B may be adjustedaccordingly to allow enough distance to perform the maneuver.

Also similar to the immediate zone A, the operating zone B may depend onthe maneuver or direction of travel presently being performed by theUAV, because when the UAV is performing a maneuver in one direction, theUAV may need more distance to compensate for the added momentum in thatdirection.

In an embodiment, the operating zone B may be defined by rules and/orregulations governing the spacing of UAVs, similar to present rulesand/or regulations on minimum time or spacing between manned aircrafts.

The observing zone C is a zone of the vicinity of the UAV extending from(and encompassing) the UAV to the sensory range limit of the one or moresensory components of the UAV. In a preferred embodiment, the observingzone C should be larger and at least encompassing the immediate zone Aand the operating zone B to ensure that the UAV has at least adequateinformation regarding the vicinity for maneuvering.

In an embodiment, the UAV is configured to observe (constantly) theobserving zone C for other objects using information provided by thesensory components (e.g., pictures and videos from an on-board camera,information from an on-board radar) and other information provided byexternal sources (e.g., information from ATC, terrestrial radar, otherinformation provided through the communication components, etc.). Otherways of detecting other objects such as using an antenna and thecommunication components to read communications from the other objects(if they are aerial vehicles) and measuring the position usinggeolocation techniques from the communications of the other objects,using the microphone in picking up the surrounding sound within thevicinity of the UAV and performing analysis on the sound signature,sound location, and other analysis. Still other ways of detecting otherobjects includes methods as known now or may be later derived. Thisinformation may include one or more of the other object's location(e.g., a coordinate with respective to the UAV, or at least someinformation regarding one or more of an approximate distance anddirection from the UAV) and/or trajectory/flight path, or the UAV maycalculate/project the other objects' location and/or trajectory/flightpath using the information.

With the location and/or trajectory/flight path, plans can be made tosteer clear of or avoid the other objects, which may including changingthe flight plan (e.g., if the other objects are not within an operatingvicinity (e.g., the operating zone B) of the UAV) or emergencymaneuvering (e.g., if the other objects are within an operating vicinityof the UAV). In an embodiment, the choice of the plans and themaneuvering (including merely informing a human operator the need toavoid other objects) may depend on the operating mode of the UAV (e.g.,automatic operating mode, manual operating mode, hybrid operating mode).

The flight path zone D is a zone encompassing a certain area of spacesurrounding an expected route (flight path) of the UAV from the presentposition, if the flight path is available. The flight path zone D maypartially overlap with the observing zone C (where information fromsensory components and other external sources are available) andpartially outside the observing zone C (where information from at leastthe sensory components would not be available). However, information ofother objects and conditions (e.g., weather conditions, flightrestrictions) may be available for the portion of the flight path zone Dthat is outside of the observing zone C from external sources. In anembodiment, information regarding the flight path zone D would be usedto help in arranging alternate flight path (e.g., when the flight pathzone D contains heavy traffic of other objects or if the weather isadverse), if the UAV is in an operating mode that allows the UAV to makechanges to the flight plan.

In an embodiment, because the information regarding at least a fartherportion of the flight path zone D would come from an external source,and in some cases more extensive and intensive calculations may beneeded, the calculating and changing of the flight plan may be performedby an external source (e.g., a UAV flight operation center/hub), wherethe UAV may be in consistent communication with and is able to receiveupdated flight plans from. In another embodiment, the UAV may not be incommunication (or may have lost connection) with the external source,and the calculation of the flight plan may need to be performedon-board, using public information (e.g., weather radio, ATC, etc.) fromother external sources that do not have the capability (or do not havethe needed control access to the UAV) to provide a changed flight plan.

It should be understood from the above and herein in this disclosure,but specifically noted here, that the zones as described above need notbe spherical (e.g., spheres with the UAV in the center such that thedistance from the UAV to the edge of each zone is the same at alldirections) or other specific shapes but may depend on the variousoperational limitations of the UAV.

It is also noted that regulatory limitations may affect the zones. Forexample, government regulations may forbid a UAV from certain airspace(e.g., Class A airspace of 18,000 ft and above). As such, the UAV wouldbe forbidden from occupying that airspace. Therefore, even if the UAV isin maneuverable closeness to that airspace, the UAV would not be able tooccupy that airspace and thus the zones would not need to include theareas of that airspace (e.g., the immediate zone A or the operating zoneB because the UAV would not be occupying that airspace). However, it isnoted the UAVs may still have the ability to enter those airspacesbecause the operational limits of the UAV is not related to theregulatory restrictions. Alternatively stated, the zones are based onthe operational needs and limits (e.g., for maneuvering) of the UAV, butthe regulatory limits also need to be followed. As such, in effect, theUAV can only operate to a limit (closeness to a regulatory limitation)such that the operational limits (e.g., the operating zone B) and theregulatory limit can both be met.

In some cases, the UAV may be acting near airspaces that it is notnecessarily restricted to (e.g., regulatory “hard” limits) but that itis merely not preferred (e.g., regulatory “soft” limit). For example, ifthe airspace is private property and belongs to a private owner, flightinto this airspace may be possible but not preferable (e.g., may have topay a toll). In this case, certain preferred zones (similar to the zonesas discussed above) may be defined/calculated when the UAV is operatingin the vicinity of this airspace that “prefers” to not include thisairspace in the preferred zones. For example, a UAV may choose (prefer)to move at a slower speed such that the resulting preferred operatingzone B would be smaller and would not include the not preferred airspacewhen the UAV that is moving at the normal speed would need to includethis airspace in the normal operating zone B. However, in emergencysituations, the UAV would still have the option to include this airspaceunder the normal operating zone B (e.g., and be able to increase thespeed to avoid other objects). In another embodiment, the UAV would haveand operate under the normal operating zone B, which may include thisnon-preferred airspace. However, the calculations that controls themaneuvering may strongly (or weakly) not prefer maneuvering into thisnon-referred airspace.

In the case of landing (or another operating process) of the UAV, it isnecessary that the UAV make contact (a form of collision) with anotherobject (e.g., the ground, landing pad, etc.). As such, it is likely theother object would be in the immediate zone A and/or the operating zoneB near the end of the landing (or another operating process) even thoughthe speed of the UAV may have slowed enough that the zones wouldprobably be small. In this case, the UAV may need to know that itexpects a contact (or collision) and adjust or ignore rules regardingother objects being in the immediate zone A and/or the operating zone Baccordingly. In an embodiment, the UAV may account for an expect contactto only some portion of the UAV (e.g., the bottom of the UAV for alanding) but does not adjust or ignore rules regarding other portions ofthe UAV (e.g., if another object may collide with the UAV while duringthe landing process.

FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of an emergency object avoidance procedureof a UAV according to an embodiment.

In an automatic operating mode, in a preferred embodiment, the UAV wouldhave a flight path (in accordance to a flight plan) mapped out ahead oftime (e.g., when the destination is outside of the observing zone C),and the UAV is configured to follow the flight path unless a new flightpath is mapped out, in which case the UAV would follow the new flightpath or the automatic operating mode is overridden or changed. In amanual or hybrid operating mode, a flight path may or may not be inplace (e.g., the UAV may be navigated freely by a remote human orcomputer operator). In any case, in a preferred embodiment, the UAVwould have certain awareness of its vicinity of other objects and beable to avoid other object once the UAV gains awareness of the otherobjects that appear in its vicinity.

In a preferred embodiment, the UAV would be able to gain awareness ofother objects that appear within the UAV's vicinity even though theother objects may not be immediately affecting the operations of the UAV(e.g., when the other objects are outside of the operating zone B butare observable because, e.g., they are in the observing zone C orinformation is available about these other objects from other sources,e.g., external sources). In a preferred embodiment, the UAV is able toplan and/or execute maneuvers that seek to avoid such objects and/ortheir anticipated trajectory while preferably not deviate significantlyfrom the UAV's flight plan/path, if needed.

However, there may be situations where the UAV needs to perform anemergency avoidance of another object because the UAV was not to detectand/or observe the other object until the object is in a vicinity of theUAV that may interfere with the UAV's operation (e.g., the other objectappears and occupies a portion of the operating zone B), the actuallocation or flight path of the other object was not as anticipated orpredicted (e.g., the location of the other object has been incorrectlyobserved or the calculated anticipated trajectory of the other object isincorrect, and the other object is now in a vicinity of the UAV, e.g.,the operating zone B, before a new anticipated trajectory can becalculated and a new flight path adopted, e.g., the other object fliesat a speed beyond the anticipated needed reaction time of the UAV), orother reasons endangering the operation of the UAV. In such cases, theemergency object avoidance procedure may be performed with at least apurpose of safe operation (e.g., to avoid a collision with the otherobject).

In an emergency object avoidance procedure, the UAV may take intoaccount a number of factors in determining the most acceptable maneuveror other actions to take. In an embodiment, the UAV may take intoaccount factors including the location and/or the present andanticipated trajectory of the other object, the present operatingconditions of the UAV (e.g., speed, heading direction, present maneuver,e.g., turning, climbing, descending), other objects in the vicinity ofthe UAV (e.g., within the operating zone B or the observing zone C)including their locations and/or the present and anticipated trajectory,the limits on the UAV including operational limits (e.g., theperformance ability of the UAV in speeding up, slowing down, turning,climbing, descending, etc.) and regulatory limits (e.g., limits onmoving into restricted airspace, maximum or minimum speed limits,available choices and preferences to move or not move to the preferredairspace, etc.), and other factors.

A main computational device of the UAV (e.g., the UAV control system)may be tasked with the computational portions of the procedure. In oneembodiment, at least some portions of the computational portions of theprocedure may be performed by a computational device closer and/or witha more direct access to the flight control components for the ability todirect the flight control components more quickly and directly (e.g.,computational device in the navigation components), but suchcomputational device may have less computing power than a maincomputational device of the UAV and may have less ability to performmore complicated computations. In another embodiment, the computationaldevices in the various components (e.g., the UAV control system, thenavigation components, the communication components, and the geolocationcomponents) may each perform a portion of the computation.

When the emergency object avoidance procedure needs to beactivated/used, the vicinity of the UAV may be scanned for a list oflocations that may have a high (or at least higher than the presentlocation) probability of safety (e.g., an ability to avoid the otherobjects). For example, in a relatively simple case of one other objectoccupying at least a portion of the operating space (e.g., the operatingzone B) of the UAV, with no other objects within the vicinity of theUAV. As such, the UAV would only need to maneuver to avoid the one otherobject. Here, the safest location may be the opposite location from theone other object's location (or opposite of its anticipated trajectoryif the trajectory is known). However, other locations that are notwithin a vicinity of the one other object's location (e.g., the vicinitywhere if a location in the vicinity occupied by the UAV, the operatingarea of the UAV at that location may still be occupied by the one otherobject) may also be safe locations, albeit with a lower probability ofsafety than the most opposite location from the one other object. Inpractice, a gradation of probable safe locations would be compiled(e.g., the list of safe locations), with the highest probability ofsafety opposite of the one other object and the lowest probability ofsafety being closest to the vicinity of the other object (and locationsin the vicinity of the other object deemed unacceptable). The actualprobability (or distribution of probabilities) for the various locationsmay be calculated or assigned based on physical or regression models,lookup tables based on prior simulations or physical experimentation,other modeling or estimates, or by other methods of calculations.

In an embodiment, this list of safe locations (and their probability ofsafety) may be modified by the various factors as listed above. Forexample, with respect to the present operating condition of the UAV, theUAV may be travelling forward while the other object appears at thebottom of the UAV. In this case, while the safest location is for theUAV to move directly upward (and be directly opposite of the otherobject), the climb rate (speed) of the UAV may be much slower than theforward speed (e.g., being needing to work against gravity to climb andwhile the UAV already has forward momentum that the forward speed may beboosted to a higher speed more quickly). Here, the UAV may have apreference of a ratio greater than 1 for moving forward instead ofclimbing (based on parameters such as a proportional (ratio) absolutespeed between moving in various directions or other proportions, e.g.,the relative speed, the absolute speed squared, as may be defined),which can be expressed as a normalized weight for adjusting therespective probabilities of the list of the safe locations. It is notedthat other factors (e.g., the rate of turn) may further adjust therespective probabilities, allowing the calculation to take into accounta multitude of factors. The location with the best weighted probabilitymay be selected for the maneuver.

It is noted that the calculations above may be computationallyintensive, as the UAV may be required to consider a multitude (unlimitednumbers of) probable locations, which may deviate from the next locationonly by a small amount and may have little change to the weightprobability from the next location (e.g., two locations very close byeach other). As such, computations of the various locations may be moreefficiently arranged. For example, the UAV may first consider a spreadof locations (e.g., top, bottom, front, back, left, and right) of theUAV, either from the plane of motion of the UAV or from the plane of thelocation (or trajectory) of the other object, or some other plane. Thecalculation (for one or more of the probability or the weightedprobability of the location being a safe location) may be firstperformed for this spread of locations. Subsequently, similarcalculations can be performed for other points of locations (near thebest location among the spread for precision assuming that theprobability does not vary much or also including other points oflocations picked elsewhere to ensure the low variance) as needed.

It is also noted that the calculations based on locations may beincompatible with the flight control components which is direction(vector) based. Specifically, the flight control components controlschanging a direction of heading of the UAV, not to a specific location.As such, further computation may be needed to translate from a pickedlocation into a direction to that location, and from the direction tothe change in the flight control components that moves the UAV in thatdirection, taking into account that operating conditions (e.g., presentmotion of the UAV) and/or the other conditions affecting the motion ofthe UAV (e.g., weather, air movement such as wind). For example, a UAVmoving forward at a certain speed and being affected by a cross-wind ofa certain speed may require a different change to the flight controlthan a UAV that is hovering (e.g., no forward motion) and not beingaffected by any wind.

In human controlled aircrafts, the human may be experienced to take intoaccount such factors for a maneuver (or an advanced flight computer inmodern aircrafts may make such calculations). In a UAV, thesecalculations may not be available due to inadequate computing power. Inan embodiment, the flight control components of the UAV may be directedto move the UAV to a general direction (vector) of the location. Forexample, if the list of possible locations are only the locations in the6 directions (e.g., top, bottom, front, back, left, and right), eachdirection may represent around a quadrant of the space in the vicinityof the UAV. The UAV may still be able to avoid the other object bymoving in the general direction of the location even though its maneuverflight path does not take the UAV to the location precisely. In anotherembodiment, the UAV's flight control components may employ a feedbackloop while making adjustments if the actual direction of flight deviatesfrom the target location similar to adjustment that would be made by ahuman pilot.

In an embodiment, if there are multiple other objects that need to beavoided, calculation of the probabilities may be performed for eachother object, and the calculations may be correlated to determine thesafest location. This may also be performed more efficiently bytechniques such as removing the known unsafe locations (e.g., locations(or trajectory) within the vicinity of at least one of the otherobjects) or by other techniques as discussed above and herein in thisdisclosure or otherwise known now or may be later derived.

In an embodiment, the emergency object avoidance procedure may furthertake into account other objects that are not in the operating area ofthe UAV (e.g., in the observing zone C or known otherwise by the UAV)but may nevertheless be accounted for in maximizing safety (e.g., if anavoidance maneuver would bring the UAV to an area with limited optionsfor the next maneuver, if needed).

For example, FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary scenario of a performanceof an emergency object avoidance procedure according to an embodiment.In this scenario, UAV X has an operating zone B, and object Y ispresently also occupying at least a portion of operating zone B,positioned as illustrated. Building T occupying some of the airspace ispositioned as illustrated. Limit R, positioned as illustrated, is aregulatory limit of the airspace (e.g., a class of airspace) for which aUAV (e.g., UAV X) may be fly below.

Here, a location in the direction D₁ may have a best probability ofmaximizing safety for UAV X to avoid object Y, if only taking intoaccount the operating area of the UAV X as discussed above. However,direction D₁ may not be the best when taking into account that moving toa location in direction D₁ would limit the next maneuvering options ofthe UAV X. For example, if object Y also moves in direction D₁ (wherethe trajectory of the object Y is not previously known to the UAV X,otherwise, a location in the direction D₁ may not had been the bestoption), UAV X may choose to do further maneuver in the direction D₁until the building T and/or the limit R may occupy an operational areaof the UAV X.

As such, the other known objects (e.g., building T and limit R) may beconsidered even if these objects are not in the operational area of theUAV X. In an embodiment, the distance of these objects may be consideredas a factor for calculating the weighted probability. For example, theweight considered may be inversely proportional to the distance of theobject from the UAV, as farther objects may have a lower probability ofaffecting the limitation of options for maneuvering the UAV. However, aswarm of objects in an area would affect the weighted probabilityrelatively significantly (e.g., by summing the individual weights) evenif the distance is far; this may be a wanted effect as the UAV mayprefer to maneuver to an area of fewer objects (thus may lead to ahigher probability of safety).

In another embodiment, the UAV may also take into account factors suchas a clear line of sight (or clear areas of observation for sensorycomponents that do not need a line of sight but may nevertheless haveareas where it has greater sensibility for observation) such that theUAV can retain the maximal awareness possible. For example, in theexemplary scenario, a sensory component of a camera may not be able tosee through the building T. As such, in the exemplary scenario, the UAVX may calculate that a location in the direction D₂ may have the bestweighted probability of safety as it avoids getting closer to thebuilding T and the limit R while having a clear line of sight (andmovement) above the building T. The UAV may also take into account otherfactors and/or preference for maneuvering, such maneuvering to move theUAV closer to a suitable landing site to prepare for possible landing ifthe airspace becomes dangerous and uncertain for safe operation (e.g.,if the airspace becomes too crowded).

In an embodiment, the UAV may further take into account a combination ofmaneuvers for avoiding an object or maximizing the potential maneuveringoptions. For example, the UAV may decide to take an indirect path to alocation for the maneuver. Alternatively stated, the UAV may maneuver tothe location through one or more intermediate waypoints.Calculation-wise, this can be viewed as maneuvering to one or morelocations before maneuvering to a final location. In an embodiment, theUAV may perform the safe probability calculation for the locations bymaking the calculations for a first set of locations, and then acombination or permutation of the first set of locations moving to asecond set of locations, etc. This set of calculations may becomputationally intensive, and the UAV may use one or more of thetechniques as discussed above and herein in this disclosure or otherwiseknown now or may be later derived to improve the efficiency.

It is recognized that the UAV may not be able to avoid every otherobjects in certain situations (e.g., the object intentionally targetingthe UAV such as a missile, the object, e.g., a fast flying animal, whichhas an unknown trajectory unintentionally hitting the UAV that has weakperformances and is incapable of avoiding the animal or if there is justno maneuvers that can avoid at least one of the other object such as ifthere are multiple objects in the vicinity of the UAV that are arrangedin a configuration that is impossible to avoid every one). In such cases(where there are no safe locations for the UAV to move to), there may becontingencies that the UAV may employ to minimize danger to others(e.g., other objects in the air or ground) when it is inevitable thatthe UAV will be collided with and possibly destroyed. In an embodiment,the UAV may perform certain procedures including moving (to the best ofits ability) to a possible location that is least likely to collide withother objects (in air and in its path down to the ground) before itsimpending collision. In another embodiment, the UAV may contain a selfdestruct procedure that performs one or more of breaking up the UAV intoless impactful pieces, scattering the pieces over a wide area, or otherprocedures to minimize the impact of a collision with a non-operationalUAV falling to the ground.

In a preferred embodiment, the UAV may also perform a flight pathplanning procedure in typical operating conditions under certainoperating modes (e.g., automatic or hybrid operating mode). Under theemergency object avoidance procedure, the UAV is configured to maneuverto avoid other objects that are within the UAV's operating area. Underthe flight path planning procedure, the UAV is configured to proactivelycalculate a flight path of the UAV prior to the other objects appearingwithin the UAV's operating area.

As discussed above, the UAV may maintain observation and/or knowledge ofthe various other objects beyond the operating area of the UAV (e.g.,the observing zone C and the flight path zone D). As discussed above,the other objects that are observed or known by the UAV may be withinone of the categories having a known trajectory (e.g., throughcommunication with the other objects, through ATC or other controlsource communications and/or instructions, through knowledge of thetrajectory gained from other sources such as from a hub or operationcenter, a known trajectory stored in the UAV's database, etc.), anexpected and/or anticipated trajectory (e.g., a fired projectile orobjects in free-fall without self-power and does not have other sourceaffect it would likely only be affected by gravity and the atmosphere),or an unknown or difficult to determine trajectory (e.g., aerialvehicles that are not in communication or not following flight rules,flying animals).

In an embodiment, the UAV may continuously (or at least in certainacceptable frequency) monitor the other objects and consider theprobability that the trajectory or anticipated trajectory of the otherobjects would affect the UAV. For objects with unknown or difficult todetermine trajectory, the UAV may take into account these objects'present operating conditions and/or known operating ability (e.g.,speed, heading, performance ability such as acceleration and climb rate)and derive a predicted flight path (trajectory) for the object. Forexample, if the object can be observed, determined, or known as a typeof aerial vehicle, the known operating ability of the object can bederived from tendencies of other similar objects (e.g., information onthe tendencies of a similar model of an aerial vehicle or a type offlying animal, tendencies of objects of similar size and shape andwithin the area where the object is located), as stored in the UAV'sdatabase or from an external source.

It is noted that the trajectory or anticipated trajectory may changeover time or at a moment's time. As such, in an embodiment, the UAV mayalso calculate or keep track of a confidence value to the probabilitythat each object would affect the UAV. For example, if the other objectis a human controlled aircraft flying under instrument flight rule (IFR)and has a flight plan filed, it would be fairly confident (and theaircraft would have a high confidence value) that the aircraft wouldstay to its communicated or known trajectory because the aircraft wouldbe expected (trusted) to follow the flight plan. In another example, ifthe other object is a projectile without self-power, it would also befairly confident (and the projectile would have a high confidence value)that the projectile would stay to its expected or anticipatedtrajectory, because it is unlikely that the projectile can change courseunexpectedly, even though its flight path is only calculated by the UAV.In yet another example, if the other object is a flying animal (e.g. abird), the confidence value would be low that the trajectory can beexpected, if the trajectory can be calculated. For objects with apredicted flight path because an expected trajectory cannot bedetermined, the UAV may assign an inherently low confidence value (asdiscussed below) to the respective probability because of theuntrustworthiness of the probability derived from this predicted flightpath.

Under the flight path planning procedure, the UAV may plan a flight paththat has a relatively low probability of being disturbed by otherobjects. In an example where the present flight path would have a highprobability of being disturbed by an object (e.g., if the object'strajectory would cross the flight path at a time when the UAV isexpected to be at that location), the flight path planning procedurewould discourage (or forbid) the flight path from taking the UAV throughthe object's expected location. An alternative flight path may bedetermined, taking the UAV through low probability areas while avoidinghigh probability areas (e.g., using pathfinding algorithms such asDijkstra's algorithm giving low path weights to low probability areasand high (or unpassable) path weights to high probability areas or otheralgorithms as known now or may be later derived). Also, the flight pathplanned may include other flight control directions, such as slowingdown or speeding up, hovering, etc., depending on the need of meetingthe goal of avoiding the other objects.

In an embodiment, the probability of an object (or an anticipatedtrajectory and that location or area) being probable to disturbed aflight path may be assigned or calculated based on an expected closenessof the other object to disturbing (intersecting) a vicinity of the UAV(e.g., the operating zone B of the UAV) at a time when the UAV isexpected to be at the location. In the case where the flight path andthe trajectory cross, the other object would certainly be disturbing thewould be operating area of the UAV, and thus the probability would bevery high or even certain. In the case where the flight path and thetrajectory would not cross (or effectively move into the operating areaof the UAV), the probability would be very low or even zero. Thisresults in a bimodal distribution of the probability where the otherobject either has a very high or very low probability depending onwhether the trajectory would intersect the flight path (and effectivelythe would be operating area of the UAV at the time of the intersection),but this is only for the cases where the UAV and the other object canperfectly follow flight path and the trajectory, respectively).

In most cases, the UAV (or the other object) may follow a flight path(or a trajectory) but may have a deviation (e.g., due to mechanicaldeviations of the flight control components of the UAV or the otherobject, weather or other external conditions such as wind, and otherfactors) affecting one or more of the heading/direction of flight,timing of movement along the flight path (or trajectory). Such deviationmay affect the probabilities because, for example, some deviation of thetrajectory of the other object may cause it to come within the vicinityof the UAV when in a perfect trajectory it may not. In an embodiment,the probability change due to such deviations may be assigned (e.g., ageneral outset, which could be based on some factors somewhat positivelycorrelated with the deviation, such as the characteristics of the UAV orthe other object (size, speed, etc.) and the general weather condition)or calculated taking into account known deviation models of the UAV (andthe other object) and/or external condition models (e.g., weather) or byother methods as known now or may be later derived.

It is further noted that the deviation is generally larger when theother object is farther away from the UAV, due to the effect of thedistance having an expanding effect on the deviation. Effectively, theprobability for an object that is closer to the UAV may have morecertainty (e.g., a higher probability for certain trajectories and lowerprobability for other trajectories), thus being closer to the bimodaldistribution as discussed above. In practical terms, there is a betteraccuracy to knowing which other object may disturb the UAV when theother object is closer to the UAV (for better flight path planning).

In an embodiment, a UAV may require certain probability of a trajectoryof an object before the UAV will consider avoiding the object. Forexample, a UAV may require at least 90% probability since there may betoo many unknown variables that planning for an object too early (e.g.,before it is somewhat certain of the intersection) may be unnecessary(e.g., the other object may have changed trajectory in the mean time inany case) at the cost of a large detour (because the flight path withthe lowest probability is almost always going to be an area where thereare no other object activities, but it is probably a large detour fromwhere the UAV wants to go to). In some way, this is balanced by thepathfinding algorithm (e.g., Dijkstra's algorithm) for finding theshortest path (modified by safety probability). In an embodiment, thebalance between safety and efficient flight planning may be adjustedaccording to one or more factors including the use of the UAV, the areaof use, known frequency of activities of the other object or theprobability of danger, and other factors.

Regarding the confidence value of the trajectories of the other objects,in an embodiment, the confidence value may be interpreted as needing alarger variance of the trajectory (e.g., the sum of a set of thepossible trajectories) in order to have the same confidence (with theset of the spread of the possible trajectories) as with a trajectorywith higher confidence (or a group of trajectories with a smallervariance). For example, for a trajectory with a low confidence value(e.g., a flying animal), this trajectory may be represented by a set ofpossible trajectories (where the set may be distributed by a normaldistribution (or other distributions) with a high variance, e.g., alarge area or space of trajectories). This is in contrast to atrajectory with a high confidence value (e.g., an aerial vehiclefollowing flight rules), which may be represented by a set of possibletrajectories that have a variance only because of, e.g., the deviationas discussed above (e.g., a small area or space of trajectories).Effectively and in practical terms, the UAV may plan a flight path thatavoids a larger area of the vicinity of the trajectory with a lowconfidence value in order to comfortably (confidently) avoid therespective object.

In an embodiment, the flight path planning procedure may also take intoaccount other factors for determining a suitable flight path. Forexample, the flight path planning and calculations may need to considercertain regulatory limits such as the right of way of some other objects(e.g., larger aerial vehicles such as human controlled planes orhelicopters being less maneuverable among other reasons, other aerialvehicles in an emergency or “mayday” call), where the UAV may need toslow down its flight in approaching the anticipated cross-path with theother object (or even stop/hover) to ensure that the other object haspassed the intersection first before continuing.

In another example, the UAV may prefer certain paths (e.g., pre-plannedUAV paths (“UAV-ways”) or (“UAV corridors”) designated for UAV use orother flight paths such as known airways between VHF omnidirectionalradio range (VOR) that are used by commercial aircrafts). In oneimplementation, these and other factors may be included in the flightpath planning procedure by adjusting the probabilities using a weightsimilar to as implemented for the emergency object avoidance procedurediscussed above. For example, to include the right of way factor, theprobabilities for these objects requiring the right of way may beweighted higher than other objects.

In another example, to include the path preference factor, theprobability for objects also using the paths may be weighted lower thanother objects not using the paths (but the preference (weight) may onlyapply if the other object is a UAV for UAV corridor because othernon-UAV objects may not be following UAV corridor protocols and may be adanger to safe operation). In effect, UAVs may follow the preferredpaths (e.g., UAV corridor) at a closer distance with each other thanotherwise.

In an embodiment, a flight path of the UAV may also be affected by anegotiated flight path between the UAV and another object that has aflight plan/path and is capable of communicating on and changing theflight path (e.g., other aerial vehicles) or negotiated/assigned flightpath by some overarching control service (e.g., an ATC controllingflight paths of aerial vehicles in an area of the airspace). In oneexample, the ATC that controls all flight paths of aerial vehicles in anarea may request that the UAV follows a certain flight path. If theairspace is fully controlled (by the ATC), the UAV would be obligated tofollow the flight path provided by the ATC and would not need a flightpath calculated by the flight path planning procedure. The UAV may stillneed to perform the emergency object avoidance maneuvers whenapplicable, as there may still be other objects not controlled by theATC (or other control services) in the airspace (analogous to collisionavoidance systems (CAS) in some aircrafts). In an embodiment, the UAVmay still use the flight path planning procedure to calculate a flightpath for approval by the ATC, if allowed.

If the airspace is not controlled, the UAV and the other object maycommunicate to negotiate a flight path, thus giving a fairly certainknowledge of the flight path/trajectory to each other. In an embodiment,the right of way of the UAV and the other object may be first determined(e.g., with the larger aerial vehicle usually having the right of way).For the entity having the right of way, it may first plan a flight path(while ignoring the existence or the trajectory of the other entity,e.g., when planning the flight path) and request the other entity toplan a flight path that avoids the entity. Each of the resulting flightpaths may be transmitted to the other entity to ensure that they do notintersect. In an embodiment where there is no right of way or if theright of way cannot be determined, each entity may transmit a proposedflight plan to the other entity and each entity determines a flight paththat avoids the other entity's trajectory, either simultaneously (e.g.,the UAV and the other object both considers the flight path sent by theother entity simultaneously, and each entity plans a flight path thatavoids the other entity based on received flight path) or in sequence(e.g., the UAV sends its flight plan first to the other object, then theother object plans a flight path that avoids the UAV and transmits thatto the UAV for confirmation). The UAV and the other object may need tonegotiate the flight paths a number of times before the final flightpaths may be settled, especially if the flight paths are transmitted tothe other entity simultaneously.

In an embodiment, the UAV may use one or more of transmitted data,synthesized speech (voice), or other formats of encoding information tocommunicate and negotiate with the ATC or the other objects. Forexample, in the case where the ATC or the other objects only supportsspeech (e.g., being human operated), the UAV may include a translator ofthe flight path or other information to speech format (or ATC speechformat or other types of formats) and a speech synthesizer to convertthe speech format into audible voice for transmitting the information tothe ATC or the other objects. The UAV may further include aspeech-to-text recognition system and a text to data translatortranslating the text received from the ATC or the other objects to adata format that the UAV may understand as being flight path or otherinformation.

Further regarding UAV corridors, in an embodiment, the UAV may beconfigured to use paths designated UAV operations. In an embodiment,these UAV corridor may follow pre-existing airways or other known orfrequently used paths in the air or roadways or other paths on theground. Private property owners may also set up the UAV corridors inprivate property as an acceptable way for UAV to move across theproperty authorized by the owner. In an embodiment, the UAV corridorsmay include broadcasts or other communication devices along the UAVcorridors that provide service or other information to the UAVs, such asthe travel and weather conditions, information regarding other UAVs andobjects in the vicinity, information regarding local navigations (e.g.,maps) or regulatory limits (e.g., speed limits, restricted areas, etc.)and other information. UAV corridors may also include various servicefacilities for the UAVs such as landing sites or service locations(e.g., for recharging the UAV).

Other features of the UAV corridors may include the ability to grant ordeny access, including collecting toll for access for the UAV attemptingto access the UAV corridors (e.g., for private property or governmenttollways). In an embodiment, UAV includes an identifier and may includeother information such as the owner's registration or governmentlicense, and the UAV is also to transmit such information to anothersystem (e.g., a toll collection system or an access grant system set upby the owner of the property or the government). At the receipt of suchinformation, the other system may verify the received information(and/or recording the information for collecting toll) and furthercommunicate with the UAV (e.g., communicating the grant or denial ofaccess). At this point, the UAV may update its database to access theUAV corridor (e.g., a preferred area because access toll has alreadybeen paid, a non-preferred area because toll is calculated by thedistance of the access, or a restricted area if access has not beengranted).

Regarding landing, it is noted that, with respect to safety, the UAV isprobably at its safest position landed. As such, the UAV should considerbeing landed when it encounters situations that it has no pre-conceivedsolution for or other unanticipated situations. Further, the present FAAproposed rules for UAVs does not allow operation of the UAV in manysituations, including adverse weather conditions. As such, the landingpotential of an area of operation of the UAV is important as the UAVshould be capable and able to land when expected.

Therefore, the UAV (and both emergency object avoidance procedure andthe flight path planning procedure) should actively consider the landingpotential of the UAV when planning and executing emergency maneuvers andflight paths. In an embodiment, the UAV may consider and keep track of anumber of suitable landing locations (e.g., at least an area of flatland for a quadcoptor UAV) and be ready to execute a controlled landing(e.g., in various emergency scenarios including a low power/fuelscenario). In an embodiment, the landing procedure may be separatelyimplemented in one or more of the navigation components, the orientationcomponent, the flight control components themselves, or other componentssuch that the UAV may be able to land even if key components of the UAVmalfunctions (e.g., UAV control system). For example, if one of thecomponents of the UAV malfunctions, the UAV should not be operating formaximum safety and should land, and the UAV is able to land because atleast the flight control components can automatically land the UAV byitself.

Further regarding landing, in an embodiment, there may be specificlanding sites designated for UAVs. For example, UAVs may land at hubsthat may include service facilities such as for recharging or fueling orother services. In a commercial or residential building, landing sitesmay be located on the roof (for the collective occupants of thebuilding) or at balconies, extension areas of the building, or otherdesignated sites (for the collective or individual occupants of thebuilding). These landing sites may include payload receiving or loadingfacilities for automatically (or manual facilitated) reception orloading of a payload (package) from and onto the UAV.

In an embodiment, landing sites may include specific landing aids (e.g.,radio beacon, line of sight signals, or other aids) for facilitating thelanding of UAVs. The UAV may pick up of these landing aids (e.g., from adistance) as a guide for leading the UAV to the landing sites. Inanother embodiment, the landing sites may also include one or more of anautomatic or manual (human controlled) control center for landing ofUAVs. For example, the landing site may request that direct control ofthe UAV be passed to the landing site's control center. In anotherexample, the UAVs are expected to follow instructions provided by thelanding site's control center (which may be similar to ATC instructionsat an airport for aircrafts). These control or instructions to the UAVsmay include one or more of hovering or flying in circle (to delaylanding for reasons such as if the landing site is not ready toaccommodate the UAV or if the landing site is expected to accommodateanother UAV under emergency or “mayday” call) or other controls orinstructions. In an embodiment, similar procedures and control may existfor accommodating the release and take-off of the UAVs from the landingsites.

In an embodiment, multiple UAVs may be coordinated and/or controlled inconjunction (e.g., needing one navigation command by a human or computeroperator). For example, two or more UAVs may be “chained” togetherelectronically. In an embodiment, one of the plurality of “chained” UAVmay be designated as the lead UAV, where control from the operator(e.g., the human or computer operator) would directly be controlling thelead UAV. The other “chained” UAVs may move and be positioned accordingto a designated formation (or some designated arrangement or pattern)from the lead UAV. For example, in an arrangement for “towing” of anumber of UAVs (where the “chained” UAV may be set to follow the leadUAV), the UAVs may align in an arrangement of a line of UAVs where asecond UAV follows the lead UAV, and a third UAV follows the second UAVand so on. Other arrangements for the “towing” example may also exist(e.g., UAVs lined up two abreast, with the second UAV following next tothe lead UAV, and the third and fourth UAV following behind the lead andsecond UAV, respectively).

When the UAVs are in an arrangement, the UAVs may each be incommunication with one or more of the other UAVs. Further with respectto the “towing” example as discussed above, in an embodiment, the secondUAV may be in communication with only the UAVs that it is following(e.g., the lead UAV) or is followed by (e.g., the third UAV), which maysave communication bandwidth and processing. In another embodiment, eachUAV may be in communication with some or all of the other UAVs in thearrangement, leading to a communication web between the UAVs. In yetanother embodiment the operator or other designated secondary operatorsmay still retain direct control of the other “chained” UAVs as needed.

With respect to the communication, each UAV may use the generalcommunications components (e.g., free-space optical communication usingvisible or invisible light such as infrared light, direct radio orspread spectrum signals such as direct radio, 802.11, or Bluetoothsignals) for communicating with the other UAVs and/or the operator forthe lead UAV. In an embodiment, the UAVs may include a specificcomponent for “towing” or other arrangements, such as a component thatemits a wireless chain (e.g., infrared light, laser) or another line ofsight signal. The other UAVs may pick up and follow this wireless chainfrom the respective UAV that it is designated to follow or be in amovement or position in respect to. For example, in an embodiment, theincident (ray) of the wireless chain may be at an angle with theemitting UAV, and the UAV picking up and following this wireless chainwould follow the incident of the emitted wireless chain and be at thesame angle with respect to the emitting UAV.

In operation of a UAV arrangement, the lead UAV is controlled (e.g.,internally by the UAV in automatic operating mode or by an externalhuman or computer operator in manual operating mode) for leading the UAVarrangement to a location. The other UAVs in the arrangement may beconfigured to move or be positioned with respect to the lead UAV eitherdirectly or indirectly (e.g., following another UAV that is directlyfollowing the lead UAV. As such, when the lead UAV moves to a location,the other UAVs would follow while keeping in the arrangement.

It is further noted that an arrangement here does not necessarily mean astatic formation (e.g., the UAVs being at specific distance or heading(or a range of distance or heading). The arrangement of the UAVs may bedynamically assigned and moved. In one example, the arrangement of theUAVs may be dynamically assigned to form a pattern. For example, if theUAVs is configured to form in a ring arrangement of a certain radius(e.g., for providing a temporary communication array over a certainarea), the number of UAVs forming the ring may increase or decrease as afunction of the available UAV that can be allocated for the use at thattime. As more or less UAVs join the ring, the distance betweenneighboring UAVs may close or widen, respectively. In another example,the arrangement of each UAV with respect to each other may also bedynamic. For example, in one arrangement, a UAV may be configured tomove in a circular pattern or other patterns around or with respect toanother UAV.

In a further embodiment, the other “chained” UAVs may still be able tooperate in operating modes (e.g., the automatic operating mode) wherethey may still perform certain maneuvers (e.g., the emergency objectavoidance procedure) as needed, even if it means the “chained” UAV wouldhave to break the arrangement if safety requires it. In an embodiment,the “chained” UAV would attempt to return to the arrangement afterperforming the needed maneuvers. The arrangement of the other UAVs mayalso “wait” for the broken off UAV to catch back up with the arrangementby slowing down or stopping (hovering). In another embodiment, it may bedetermined that an emergency or an abnormal operation has occurredaffecting the entire arrangement if one or more (or a significantproportion) of the UAVs of the arrangement has broken off, and may leadto landing (or other procedure) of the entire arrangement. In yetanother embodiment, the “chained” UAV operation may be part of anoperating mode of the UAV (e.g., where the UAV is in automatic operatingmode and movement and/or position of the “chained” UAVs with respect thelead UAV would be part of the flight plan).

In an embodiment, controls of a UAV may be passed to another operator,whether the UAV is in automatic operating mode, manual operating mode,or hybrid operating mode. For example, the FAA presently proposed rulerequires a human remote operator to keep a visual line-of-sight with theUAV the human is operating. As such, for a UAV in long range operation(or generally out of line-of-sight operation such as in a city scenariowith building blocking the line-of-sight of the operator), variousoperators may be positioned at various vantage points of the flight pathof the UAV such that there is at least one operator having aline-of-sight view of all portions of the flight path. When the presentoperator of the UAV will lose line-of-sight view of the UAV as the UAVis travelling along the flight path, the next operator having aline-of-sight view of the continuing flight path may take over the dutyof operating the UAV.

In another example, even if there is no regulatory limit requiring theline-of-sight of the human operator (e.g., a human may control the UAVthrough transmitted views of the environment/vicinity of the UAV fromthe UAV's sensory components such as an on-board camera), there maystill be situations where it is advantageous to transfer control toanother operator. For example, some operators may have the skills and/orfamiliarities with certain specific areas of operation (e.g., ageographical area or experience in the air traffic of a certain area) orcertain types of weather and/or other external conditions (e.g., highwind, rain, snow, or other conditions). Also, rules and regulations mayrequire an operator having a certain specialized qualification (e.g.,flight hours, specialized training such as mountain flight training,security clearance for flight over a certain area such as certainnational security sensitive areas) in order to operate the UAV for acertain airspace or area. As such, even if rules and regulations allowfor remote operation of the UAV, operation of the UAV may need to behanded off to certain specialized operators at certain times and flightareas for compliance, safety, and other reasons. Operation of the UAVmay return to the original operator when the specialized operator is nolonger needed. In yet another example, the UAV may be part of a fleet ofmany UAVs belonging to the same entity (e.g., part of an internationalUAV fleet), it may be of further efficiency if an operator controllingthe flight of the UAV is limited in duration or other factors (e.g.,geographic areas or other specialty as discussed above and herein inthis disclosure). For example, operators may work at various centralizedUAV control centers (e.g., certain UAV hubs) at various geographicalareas and may work in various shifts and time zones. A UAV in flight mayrequire continuous operator control. As such, control of the UAV maypass to a more localized operator to the UAV's present position to allowthe original operator time off if the flight is long. This may alsofacilitate more reliable communication between the operator and the UAV,being that the actual operator would be closer to the UAV.

In an embodiment, control/operation of the UAV may also be passed to anexternal (third party) human or computer operator. For example, in thelanding sites scenario as discussed above, landing sites request remotecontrol of the UAVs to facilitate landing arrangements (alternate to theUAV having to follow landing instructions such as ATC instructions). Inan embodiment, UAVs may implement a common protocol (e.g., over thecommunication channel between the UAV and landing sites) that allows thelanding sites (or other third party operators) indirect access to theflight control components (by using the protocol as implemented by theUAV). In this way, the UAV may still bypass the control given to thethird party operator (e.g., similar to bypassing one of the manual orhybrid operating modes back to an automatic operating mode to perform anemergency object avoidance or other procedures).

Security:

Security is recognized as a substantial issue to UAV operation. Much ofthe security issues around UAVs deal with communications between variousexternal sources, especially with respect to command and control of theUAVs. In terms of communication, two aspects on the communication arenotable on the security concerns: the uninterrupted communicationavailability (e.g., attacks by jamming the communication or by othermethods of severing or interrupting the communication) between the UAVand one or more of the remote operator, other communicable objects suchas other aerial vehicles, fixed flight guidance or other flightinformation installations, and other external sources related to anoperation of the UAV, and the integrity of such communication (e.g., oneor more of intercepting the communication at each of the origin or thedestination of the communication (e.g., by a trojan or spy software atthe UAV or the external source) or in between the origin or thedestination (e.g., when the communication is through the communicationchannel and/or at an intermediate relay such as a router)) andimpersonating the communication as being from the other of the UAV andthe external source (e.g., a spoofing attack). Other security concernsmay also include access to the physical UAV, including the variousdevices and components of the UAV (e.g., storage of the UAV that mayinclude private or sensitive information such as photographs of securedor restricted areas).

An uninterrupted communication channel between a UAV and one or more ofa remote operator (either human or an external computer), other aerialvehicles, fixed flight guidance or other flight informationinstallations, and other external sources may be important for a UAV asthe UAV may be relying on the vital communication for command andcontrol, decision making (e.g., emergency object avoidance and flightpath planning), and other functions of the UAV. This issue goes directlyto an ultimate safety issue because a UAV that is in flight cannotsimply stop mid-flight and be relatively safe; the UAV must land safelyor else might collide with another object or cause injury to human orproperty if it crashes to the ground.

Further, present UAV operations lack a dedicated and/or protected radiofrequency spectrum for such UAV operations (e.g., dedicated and protectradio frequency channels like in the case of manned aerial vehicles). Assuch, UAVs may be vulnerable to even unintentional interferences fromother electronics using wireless technology (e.g., devices that havelegitimate and legal use to a wireless channel), let alone intentionalinterferences of the UAV's communication (e.g., an attacker jamming thechannel such as when an attacker is broadcasting with high power on awireless channel that the UAV is using for communication, which maystill be a legal use). This is a key security vulnerability for UAVs,because any interruption to the wireless communication channel, such asby jamming, can sever the exclusive means of control of the UAV (e.g.,the remote human of computer operator in a manual operating mode), asopposed to an aerial vehicle with an onboard (manned) pilot that hasdirect and physical control of the aerial vehicle.

In an embodiment, the UAV may employ redundancy in the wirelesscommunication channels in order to improve the robustness of thecommunication between the UAV and the external sources. For example, acommunication may be duplicated on the various wireless channels suchthat, if one channel is jammed or otherwise interfered with, thecommunication may still be transmitted on the other wireless channels.This technique would at least help with the unintentional interferencesfrom other devices as the chance would be smaller than multiple channelswould be simultaneously used and be interfered with. In a preferredembodiment, the UAV may use two such wireless channels for redundancypurposes while also avoiding using too many wireless channels, therebyleading to inefficient use of the wireless channel resources.

In another embodiment, channel hopping techniques may be used tominimize the interferences by continuously hopping to one or morechannels that have minimal noise or other interference. This may alsohelp with the general security of the communication as an attacker wouldneed to also know what channel(s) the communication would be on.

In another embodiment, the communication may be through one or moreexternal devices or systems in direct communication with the UAV. Forexample, the UAV may be in direct communication with a human controllerthrough radio wireless channel. The UAV may also be in directcommunication with a base station connected to a network (e.g., theInternet) that can route such communication to the human controller alsoconnected to the network. The UAV may still also communicate with anairspace control service (e.g., an ATC) through a protected channel,which may act to relay certain navigation information to the humancontroller (e.g., through receiving and listening to the ATC channel forthat airspace).

In additional embodiments, other techniques as known now or may be laterderived may be used in avoiding intentional or unintentional wirelesschannel interference or in establishing and keeping at least one stablecommunication link between the UAV and the external sources.

Also, the UAV may employ certain pre-programmed maneuvers and proceduresin the event that a communication link is severed between the UAV andthe remote operator (e.g., putting the UAV in some automatic operatingmode). For example, the UAV may still be able to avoid other objectsthrough the emergency object avoidance procedure, if available. In apreferred embodiment, the UAV may constantly keep track of suitablelanding sites for landing (using an automatic landing procedure), if thecommunication link is not reestablished within some time (e.g., athreshold time) or if it is determined to be unsafe. In anotherembodiment, the UAV may broadcast its status (e.g., a “mayday” signal)and allow other remote operators, which may be verified remote operators(e.g., those authorized as secondary operators or those licensed by agovernment or private agency), to control the UAV (for the purpose oflanding or bringing the UAV to a safe environment); such remoteoperators may include (and be prioritized to) landing sites nearby thathave capabilities to control the UAV (e.g., for landing).

With respect to the general interception or impersonation of thecommunication link between the UAV and the external sources, in anembodiment, the UAV and the external sources may establish securecommunication channels through encryption, authentication, verification(including third party verification from an authority or otherorganization), and other secure communication channel techniques orprocedures as known now or may be later derived.

The UAV may also employ additional security procedures to minimize theeffect of a secure communication breach in case that the breach doesoccur. In an embodiment, the UAV may be limited to setting its flightplan only while it's grounded and/or being in an authorized groundfacility (e.g., a verified hub for the UAV). Additionally, the flightplan may be transmitted to the UAV through a secured direct link (e.g.,a wired link) between the UAV and the facility. As such, in anembodiment, when the flight plan of the UAV is not able to be changedonce the UAV is airborne, an impersonator would not be able to controlthe UAV for alternate use even if it was able to gain access to the UAV(e.g., by spoofing the communication with the UAV as a legitimatecontroller). In such UAVs, an acceptable control from a controller maybe to land at a nearby authorized ground facility in order to change theflight plan, if needed. This arrangement may be preferred for a UAV thatis part of a fleet and would not need deviate from an established flightplan. In other embodiments, access or change to other parts of thecontrol by a remote operator may be restricted as needed.

In an embodiment, the UAV may also restrict various components of theUAV from being used or the information obtained from these componentsduring a flight be accessed by a remote operator. For example, a UAV mayrestrict sending images or videos recorded by the on-board camera to theremote operator (e.g., when the UAV is expected to fly over certainsensitive areas or private properties where the UAV has a right topassage but not to film due to privacy), as such images or videos may beintercepted by a third party. In such cases, the remote operator maystill rely on other components such as the orientation and thenavigation components of the UAV to operate the UAV through IFR flight.In a further example, even when the UAV has been transmitting the imagesor videos from the on-board camera to the remote operator, the UAV maybe instructed to stop transmitting such information and/or to even turnoff the camera if it will be passing through a sensitive area with suchregulatory limit.

In an embodiment, the UAV may be required to receive and carry outinstructions by entities (e.g., government agents such as lawenforcement or owners of private properties that the UAV is flying overand has instruction rights to the UAV when the UAV is over suchproperties) that may override the remote operator (e.g., as programmedin the UAV). For example, such entities may issue an order to disable orground the UAV, either in a broadcast or through direct communicationwith the UAV (e.g., in order to check the UAV for carrying contrabandsor drugs). In the case of cross-border operation of the UAV (e.g.,through domestic or international border), a payload carrying UAV mayalso communicate with the appropriate government entity a manifest ofthe payload and may be commanded to land for inspection.

In an embodiment, such entities may want to commandeer the UAV forfurther access to the UAV's components or to direct the UAV for theentities' use or for other purpose. These entities may or may not havemore rights than the remote operator to the components of UAV dependingon the regulatory limits and/or other factors (e.g., where the remoteoperator is limited from changing the flight plan while the UAV isairborne as discussed above).

In an embodiment, all or selected activities of the UAV may be logged.Access to such logs may be restricted according to the accesser (e.g.,which may not include the remote operator) and the conditions of access(e.g., not available through a wireless communication link while the UAVis airborne). For a human remote operator, present or future regulationsmay require flight logs to be kept and for the human operator to logcertain flight hours (experience) to qualify for certain levels of UAVoperations by certification (e.g., without a flight supervisor, fornon-visual line-of sight (VOL) flights, camera flights, long distanceflights, simultaneous multiple UAV operations, etc.). Such logs may bekept for other purposes including quality control, investigation, orother purposes and may be stored in a separate secured and survivablecomponent of the UAV (e.g., analogous to a black box in an aircraft).

Payload Delivery and Fleet Management:

In embodiments, a UAV may be used to carry and delivery a payload (e.g.,a physical package to be delivered from person A to person B). This ispreferable as UAVs could provide low-cost and convenient of“door-to-door” service without a person leaving a location or requiringanother person to facilitate the delivery process (e.g., picking-up anddelivering the payload).

For example, referring to FIG. 4A, in a “point-to-point” deliveryscheme, person A wishes to send a payload to person B. If person A iswithin the flight range of a UAV (to person B), person A may load thepayload onto the UAV and fly the loaded UAV to person B (e.g., throughhuman remote control of the UAV in manual operating mode or through theUAV carrying out a flight plan from person A to person B in manualoperating mode). In manual operating mode, the UAV may be controlled bya person (e.g., person A or another person) with visual line of sight ofthe UAV during the entire time when the UAV is in flight or throughindirect sight (aided vision) (e.g., one or more or a combination offirst person view of the UAV's flight as provided by the UAV's onboardcameras and third-person view of cameras along the flight path of theUAV when the UAV is visible in the visual range of the cameras).

Extending from the previous example, referring to FIG. 4B, if person Ais outside the range of one UAV (to person B), the payload may bedelivered by a number of consecutive UAVs. Here, the payload is loadedonto a first UAV from person A and is carried by the first UAV to anintermediate point (e.g., intermediate point 1). At the intermediatepoint, which may be a UAV hub, the first UAV could be serviced (e.g.,battery recharged or replaced, quick inspection, repair, and/or otherservicing), or the payload could be transferred to another UAV forcarriage to person B (possibly through another one or more intermediatepoints).

In another example, referring to FIG. 4C, person A wishes to send apayload to person B, but person A does not have a UAV available to carrythe payload within the vicinity (or does not own a UAV). Here, person Acan request a UAV to be sent to his location. For example, person A mayown the UAV (located at a different location) and may instruct the UAVto move to person A's present location (e.g., through a commandinterface of the UAV). Person A may also not own a UAV but may borrow orrent one from a third party (e.g., from a delivery service through arental request). In another case, person A may have part ownership ofthe UAV (e.g., in a timeshare manner, a number of owners, e.g.,neighbors, within the immediate vicinity) with a number of other owners,since a person might not need to use the UAV at all times (e.g., personA may gain use of the UAV by a schedule or log tracking the uses thescheduled uses for each owner or authorized persons or by other managingmethods). After the UAV arrives at person A's location, the payload maybe loaded onto the UAV and sent to person B as discussed above. Ifperson A has used the UAV from a third party, the UAV may be returned tothe third party automatically (if person B's location is within acontrollable service area of the third party). The third party mayfurther stipulate that person A may only use the UAV in a controllableservice area as a condition of use.

In other specific applications of the “point-to-point” UAV deliveryscheme, shops may assume the role of person A in the examples asdiscussed above to deliver ordered products to a person B that is aconsumer or other businesses. For example, person B may have orderedgrocery, medicine, or other products (e.g., with a short shelf liferequiring quick delivery) from the shop (e.g., online, through a phone,remotely by other methods, or onsite but could not carry the orderedproducts back). The shop could use a UAV to deliver the product toperson B in a timely manner.

In another embodiment, a fleet of UAV may be used as part of a deliverynetwork. Referring to FIG. 4D, the delivery network may include the hubsH₁, H₂, and H₃ for servicing persons A, B, C, E, and F by a fleet ofUAVs. It is noted that each hub (e.g., H₁, H₂, and H₃) may be either afixed or mobile installation. For example, hub H₁ may be a fixedfacility at a terrestrial location (e.g., a warehouse location in town).Other hubs H₂ and H₃ may be mobile (e.g., the hub itself is movable fromone terrestrial location to another in the form of one or more of asurface vehicle (e.g., a truck), a floating vehicle (e.g., a cargoship/carrier), an aerial vehicle (e.g., a cargo plane).

In an embodiment, a hub may be configured to store and/or move (in thecase a mobile hub) payloads and may act as a facility for launching andhosting one or more UAVs. For example, each hub may contain (host) oneor more UAV, facilitating the take-off and landing of the UAVs (e.g.,acting as a landing site for a UAV as discussed above). In a furtherembodiment, the hub may contain facility for automatically loading a UAVwith a payload (stored in the UAV) and launching the UAV for carryingthe payload to a destination (e.g., to person B). At the other end, thehub may be configured to receive (land) a UAV containing a payload andautomatically unload the payload from the UAV for storage in the hub(e.g., from person A). The launching and landing site may be at a placeof the hub convenient for such purpose (e.g., the roof of a fixedfacility, truck, or ship or the undercarriage of a plane).

In an embodiment, the hub may contain UAVs of varying payload capacityand weight limit. For example, smaller UAVs may serve a larger range(e.g., because it has a lower power requirement) or saves more power (bybeing lighter), and larger UAVs may to able to carry larger or heavierpayloads. As such, each payload may be matched to a suitable UAV (one ormore UAV combined) for delivery (e.g., to person B). In a situationwhere a UAV needs to go to a site to pick-up a payload and return to thehub (e.g., person C), the UAV chosen may be one that is suitable to ananticipated payload to be recovered. In an embodiment, the allocation ofUAVs for delivery may account for other factors such as the number ofavailable UAVs of each type, the expected arrival of other UAVsavailable for reuse of each type (and their time of arrival), theavailabilities or expected availability and needs of UAVs of hubs nearbyor at longer distances, and other factors.

In an embodiment, the allocation of the UAVs and payloads may bedistributed across multiple hubs. For example, if hub H₁ has a presentneed for a specific type of UAV and hub H₂ is nearby with anavailability for the specific type of UAV, the UAV may move from H₂ toH₁ to be used by hub H₁. For payloads, payloads may also be moved aroundto the various hubs (carried by the UAVs or physically moved by movingthe hub). For example, even if the hub H₂ is in range to deliver apayload by one of its smaller UAV (e.g., person C), the hub H₂ may lacksuch a type of the smaller and may instead move the payload to hub H₁for delivery of the payload. Further, multiple payloads may be carriedby a single UAV (e.g., a UAV with a larger capacity) from one hub toanother hub for distribution by multiple UAVs of the another hub. In anembodiment, a logistic system may be developed for tracking andarranging the UAV fleet and the delivery network.

In an embodiment, the UAVs may be controlled by an operator (e.g., inmanual operating mode) that is stationed within the hub or throughanother control facility (that may be at another hub).

In a further embodiment, movable hubs may be moving (e.g., when the UAVsare launched on an airborne plane) or have moved after a UAV islaunched, and the UAV may not be able to return back to the same hub(e.g., because the mobile hub may have left the area and the UAV isunable to catch up with or is out of range of the hub). In suchsituations, the UAVs that were launched may stay at its location (e.g.,the payload's location if the UAV is attempting to pick up a payloaduntil the hub or another hub returns within range of the UAV). Forexample, a surface hub (e.g., a truck) may be in a vicinity for a dailypickup and delivery pass once a day. A UAV may be launched by the hub toa location for pickup of a payload during the pass but the location isout of range for a same day return of the UAV (same day pickup). Assuch, the UAV may wait for the hub's daily pass the next day to returnto the hub with the payload. In another situation, the UAV may move toanother hub (e.g., another mobile or fixed hub) that may be in range.Alternatively, the another hub may have further launched a UAV to thelocation for the pickup of the payload and the UAV carries the payloadto the surface hub for transport. Such logistics may also be accountedfor by the logistics system as discussed above and herein in thisdisclosure.

Tracking and on and Off Premise Use:

In embodiments, one or more of the UAVs may track individuals (and/orobjects) and be put for various uses. In an embodiment, the UAV may beprovided with or have knowledge of locations of individuals (and/orobjects) with methods and systems as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.6,952,181, entitled “Locating A Mobile Station Using A Plurality ofWireless Networks And Applications Therefor,” herein incorporated byreference, or by other methods and systems as known now or may be laterderived. In another embodiment, the UAV may track an individual (and/orobjects) directly through its sensory components through methods such asfacial recognition, object tracking, RFID, or other methods as known nowor may be later derived.

In an embodiment, the UAV may be used for locating a person for pickingup or delivering a payload, either on or off a premise. For example, inan on premise environment (e.g., a totally indoor environment such as abuilding, a mall, a movie theater, etc. or an outdoor environment thathas a set boundary (which may have some indoor environments) such as anamusement park, ski resort, etc.), the UAV may be asked to deliver apayload to a tracked individual or to approach a tracked individual topick up a payload. For a tracked individual, the UAV would be able toplan a flight path to the individual if the individual is still onpremise. If the location of the individual is not presently accessibleto the UAV (e.g., behind closed doors), the UAV may move to a locationas close as possible to the individual and wait until the individualgoes to an accessible location.

For an off premise environment (or if the individual went off premisefrom an on premise environment) and an in premise environment with weaklocationing technology, the UAV may rely on locating methods andinformation tracking the individual off premise (if the configuration ofthe UAV allows it to move off premise) or off the on premise locationinggrid. The UAV may also need to decide if it can reasonably reach theindividual (e.g., within the range of the UAV and perhaps able to returnto a hub) or if the tracking of the individual is reliable or cancontinue to be reliable (e.g., in an area where there is an adequatemethod for locating the individual). The UAV may decide the task to beunreasonable or impossible and abort.

In an embodiment, the individuals may be tracked on premise even if theidentity of the individual is relatively unknown. For example, in somelocationing methods, an individual may be tracked based on theelectronic signatures of the devices the individual is carrying (e.g.,an electronic identifier of a handset). In an example, an individual mayhave been tracked at a store at a mall after making a purchase, but theindividual has either forgotten or otherwise did not pick up thepurchase. The UAV may be able to deliver the purchase to the individualas the individual has been tracked when it made the payment at theregister, even without knowing other identifying information regardingthe individual.

In an embodiment, the UAV may be used to deliver on-the-spot informationor other materials to a tracked individual, such as broadcasts orannouncements (e.g., from the UAV carrying a mobile display, speakers,etc.) or other materials or content.

In an embodiment, one or more UAVs may be configured to follow and/oroperate within a vicinity of a tracked individual.

For example, the UAV may be configured to carry certain payloads whilefollowing an individual. Effectively, the UAV acts as a “mule” carryingpayloads for the individual (e.g., carrying tools and/or equipments forworkers, sportsman, tourists/visitors). In one specific example, aworker working in a high attitude environment (e.g., an antenna serviceman) can rely on the UAV to carry the needed equipments obviating theneed to carry the equipments himself.

In another example, one or more UAV may be configured to follow and/oroperate within a vicinity (e.g., an arrangement of the UAV as discussedabove and herein in this disclosure), carrying various components andmodules for various purposes. For example, a number of UAVs may bearranged to take photographs of an individual at various positions andangles (e.g., at a ski slope where the individual skiing down at a highspeed). For another example, the UAVs may be in position to providelights and cameras at a movie set (e.g., a high speed car chase scene)at various positions and angles. For yet another example, the UAVs maycarry displays and speakers at various positions and angle for theatricor other performance effects.

Service Deployment Platform:

In an embodiment, one or more UAVs may be used (and may be in anarrangement as discussed above and herein in this disclosure) fordeploying a needed service to an area.

For example, in various military or civilian applications, services suchas a communication network may need to be deployed to an area. In anarrangement, UAVs (having a communication module) may set up acommunication network (e.g., an ad-hoc wireless network) over a certainarea. For example, the UAVs may be arranged in a line pattern extendingthe communication range to the end of the line. In a further example,the UAVs may eventually form a net pattern providing redundancy tonetwork covered by the UAVs once enough UAV is available to form thecommunication net.

Also, once the communication network is available or in conjunction withthe setup of the communication network (or some other communicationmethod is available such as through a satellite), other UAVs may be ableto operate within the area providing other resources, such as light,communication (e.g., wireless communication through the network orvisual and audible communications such as cameras and display andmicrophone and speakers) to individuals within the area (e.g., adisaster area having its preexisting infrastructure destroyed). Theother UAVs may also provide payloads of needed supplies (e.g., food,medicine, etc.) even if the area is not immediately accessible to humansoutside of the area.

In another embodiment, the one or more UAVs may be used to deployservices from a platform (e.g., a vehicle, boat, plane, human carrier,etc.) within the vicinity of the platform (e.g., extending the range ofa platform). For example, in detection and tracking uses, the UAVs maybe used for finding games (e.g., using cameras or other equipments in ahunting use) or finding schools of fishes (e.g., using sonars or otherequipments in a fishing use) in an extended area. In another example,the UAV may be launched from a vehicle (e.g., a car) for finding parkingspots ahead of the vehicle reaching the location (e.g., a parking lot).

UAV Long-Felt Needs and Challenges

The emerging UAV industry can have an enormous, positive impact onseveral military strategies and traditional civilian industries andgovernments world-wide. For example, in transportation shipping anddelivery, the so-called home delivery to the “last-mile” has the highestpercentage costs. One research firm estimated that 23 to 78% of thesupply-chain delivery cost of a typical consumer purchased item, resultsfrom the delivery expense to the home or last-mile¹. Particularly in theInternet-based instant gratification eCommerce industry, home delivery“is the battlefront in retail”.² Transportation costs will likely risein the future. Municipalities struggle to improve roads, traffic andcongestion while attempting to lower taxes, to an increasingly densepopulation 1 ChainLInk Research, Ann Grackin, “The Year of the LastMile”, pub. Dec. 11, 2014, Website URL:http://www.clresearch.com/research/detail.cfm?guid=3283C1FB-3048-79ED-999E-536DD384B656,herein incorporated by reference2 ibid, ChainLink Research, Bill McBeatharticle, “Home Delivery”, 2013, website:http://www.chainlinkresearch.com/homedelivery/index.cfm, hereinincorporated by reference

Ideally at the point of ordering and sales, the retailer's orderingsystems should have the means to dynamically offer a variety of deliveryoptions, based on, for example, knowledge of available transport routecapacity, customer package delivery acceptance times and dates, deliveryroute driver drop density, road and traffic congestion. In addition itshould be possible to identify alternative, suitable drop-off locationssuch as non-related business offices, parks, open fields, andbrick-and-mortar businesses (to name a few). Alternative packagedrop-off locations could be proposed based on knowledge of thecustomer's typically frequented traveling places, such as trustedneighbors, office(s) of friends and family members, shopping areas andthe like.

Coupling the location of the customer's potential pickup locations forpackage receipt, with a continuously optimized retail delivery supplychain model, would provide more variety and efficiency in managing thehome delivery costs and optimizing customer experience andrepeat-business loyalty. Smartphone and Internet-based web applicationswith data access to the purchase transaction and delivery data andalternatives, could be designed that provide the customer and retailerwith better choices, delivery times, and dynamic location tracking androuting of the package, with respect to the customer's current locationand/or alternate delivery location.

The notion of same-day delivery of medicines is a critical adjunct totelemedicine applications such as video-based doctor visits using, forexample, Skype video and sound communications. Moreover, patientconnected health-sensor devices, could relay their data to the patient'ssmartphone via, for example Bluetooth. A smartphone application couldthen relay the medical data, along with a live video stream of thepatient, to the doctor, for diagnosis and treatment. Since the timelydispensing of pharmacological drugs from the doctor to the patient canbe critical in certain life-or death situations, having a reliable androbust home delivery means for timely patient drug delivery can resultin saving lives. Amazon is requesting that the FAA allow Amazondrones/UAV to deliver patient medicine to the patient having asmartphone. The patient would acknowledge the acceptance of the medicalpackage with a visual siting of the drone/UAV, then the drone props thepackage to the patient with the smartphone.

A. UAV Landing Stations (for Re-Charging Package Re-Distribution, UAVRepair,

As UAV cannot remain airborne for significant periods of time, and maycarry relatively heavy packages, a means to improve range andreliability includes a plurality of UAV stations for in-route landingand take-off. These UAV landing station(s) may include means forautomatic, semi automatic, or manual UAV battery replacement, UAVrepair, and package re-routing and temporary storage. Relatedly, USPatent Publication No. US20120078451 A1, “Automatic Taking-Off andLanding System”, pub. Mar. 29, 2012, herein incorporated by reference,describes a means to manage the physical take-off and landing of aflying object. These claims are directed to UAV landing-takeoff of theUAV repair, battery and other subsystem replacement means, and packagereceipt, relay and forwarding. Several means can be used to implement aphysical wiring connection and disconnection between electrical deviceson a UAV and a landing—Takeoff Station (LTS). A physical inverted coneconsisting of small rods, are used to physically guide the UAV along anear-vertical path onto the center of LTS. At the center of the UAVlanding point, an electrical connector mates into a similar, butopposite gender electrical connector located on the UAV. A slightvibration, either on the UAV or the LTS connector, along with the weightof the UAV, is used to seat or mate the two electrical connectors ontoeach other. The connector design may be of an existing design, such as auniversal serial bus (USB), or a USB-like connector, or a customizedconnector design for this application. The LTS connector provides powerand data connectivity to the UAV subsystems. An electrical or opticalsensor can optionally be used to verify that a suitable physicalconnection has been achieved. If such connection has not be achieved,the UAV can be instructed to lift off, and re-attempt to land again ontothe LTS electrical connector. This process may have to been repeateduntil an adequate electrical connection has been achieved. A customizedUSB may consist of, for example, the arrangement of four USB connectorsin a slotted cone design, such that the UAV connector easily mates withthe LTS connector, via remote control and airborne flight maneuvering.Optionally, one or more magnets may be used to further improve themating connection of the two connectors. Optionally a holder having aplurality of surfaces that are shaped to contact a plurality of outersurfaces of an electronic device, and to secure the UAV onto the UAVlanding position, the UAV electronic device including a wireless powerreceive element(s) configured in a cone shape, coupled to the UAV powerand/or data circuits, and a resonant, cone shaped circuit containedwithin the LTS landing point area, said resonant circuit including acoil antenna that is tuned to a frequency and configured to, when inoperation, receives power or transfers bi-directional data from a nearbywireless field generated by a LTS transceiver system. This scheme wouldnot require a physical electrical connection, to recharge the UAVbattery(s). A UAV having modular components, and a LTS having amechanized gripping device, it is possible to arrange a computingmachinery-controlled, or manual means, to repair UAV components. Forexample robotic arms on the LTS can be used to remove and replacevarious UAV components, such as the rotor assembly, rotor arms, cameras,gyroscopes, and related assemblies.

Often UAV may include a mechanized grabbing or holding device, to carrya package/container. The device may include, for example, convergingopposed cylinder or solenoid-operated finger arrangements which pivottogether to close about a package or similar container for gripping andopen to release said package or container. The said UAV—LTS connectionmay include data interchanges, such as digital messages from a computingsystem connected to the LTS, to cause the UAV grabbing device torelease, or pickup, an existing or new package/container.

B. UAV Group Routing, UAV Re-Routing, Package Temp. Storage, Re-Delivery

A conveyor belt other physical package movement system, positioned belowthe UAV LTS, could be used to collect and move away, a UAV droppedpackage, or to provide a new package/container to the UAV, for itspickup. The new package may be a re-routed package due to a change inscheduled delivery, a return package, temporary safe storage of thepackage, rain or other flight restriction delays, or similar situations.UAV LTS may be positioned on top of moving or vehicles, buildings,cleared areas in trees, antenna towers, cliffs, boats, ships, balloons,other aircraft, etc. Ideally the UAV LTS is near a source of power,although alternatively solar and/or wind power could be used to provideelectrical energy to operate the UAV LTS and recharge the UAV.

Numerous situations may require that a UAV change its flight path froman intended or scheduled path, to an emergency or alternative path. Incertain cases, for example, a UAV may become excessively hot, low onbattery power, subject to RF jamming, or sensors may detect that it isunder attack, or a UAV may encounter a control message to change flightpath, or to return to a safe base (i.e., LTS), recharge it's battery,change packages, etc. Ideally a fleet of UAV travel in a coordinatedmanner, along paths such that any given UAV is within landing distanceof a LTS. Having a plurality of LTS provides improved safety, andreliability of UAV, delivery services, and other related benefits tosuccessfully carry out a given UAV mission plan.

C. Security Updates

Hijacking, of UAV radio communications, denying digital service, andjamming principles are well-known in the UAV art. Significantadversarial countermeasures include:

-   -   1.) Use of a plurality of separate RF and/or optical wireless        communications (OWC) bands, including Wi-Fi, cellular and        private RF bans, and free space optics (FSO), in particular,        ultraviolet communication (UVC). Although OWC requires        gumball-mounted, highly focused antenna systems, several        companies now offer light weight hardware-software solutions to        dynamically position antennas to support FSO and UVC. One        example of a vendor product for airborne Long-Range Laser optics        communications is Aoptics' Laser Comms system. A particularly        light weight quantum cascade laser (QCL) system suitable for UAV        OWC applications is Pranalytica's Model        1101-XX-QCW-YYYY-EGC-UC-PF, fixed frequency Laser system using        the 3.8 um to 12 um wavelength Mid-infrared range (MIR) band,        with up to 1 Watt of continuous power. This MIR, QCL power,        weight technology combination is well-suited to provide robust        ultra-high speed data communications with UAV(s) and their        corresponding control and data collection antenna(s), across a        wide variety of distances (several km) and adverse atmospheric        conditions³. 3 “Corrigan, Paul, Martini, Rainer, et al, “Quantum        Cascade Laswersa nd the Kruse Model on Free Space Optical        Communications”, Dept of Physics, Stevens Institute of        Technology, Hoboken, N.J., 2008, Optical society of America,        herein incorporated by reference.        -   In contrast, CO₂-based lasers require more power (and thus            added weight to the UAV), and also scatter the beam more so            than the QCL MIR technology. The longer wavelength, MIR QCL            technology is more suited to free space optical            communications because it implements a longer wavelength            beam that is much less affected by fog, particulates and            rain.        -   On the UAV(s) and the operator's computing device(s), a            light weight, bandwidth aggregation router is configured to            relay packets, ideally VPN bonded packets, across separate            radio bands, then recombined at the far-end, endpoint. This            network method can provide additional bandwidth to end-point            packets if multiple network paths are available.            Alternatively if several wireless networking paths fail,            end-point packets will be routed across any available            mid-point paths, to improve endpoint reliability. Use of a            plurality of radio and OWC links, provides improved Bandwith            aggregation and communication reliability. Router vendors            include, for example, PepLink, Mushroom Networks,            Fusionappliances, D-Link Fuzion Broadband Aggregation            Router, Cisco ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services Router,            and Patton's Man-portable unit, model BODi rS BD004. Current            bonding/aggregation and balancing technology typically            supports up to seven simultaneous RF channels, including            multi-carrier 3G, 4G/LTE, VSAT and multiple WiFi bands.    -   2.) Full encryption of RF digital communications signals,        including headers and addresses. Examples of digital packet        protocols include Secure Real time Protocol (SRTP), with AES 128        or 256 bit encryption. One example of a freely available        protocol system is Bitmessage. Bitmessage could be used aboard a        UAV and its end-operator's computing platform, to allow the UAV        operator to securely send and receive messages, and to subscribe        to broadcast messages, using a trustless decentralized        peer-to-peer protocol means, similar to BitCoin. Users need not        exchange any data beyond a relatively short address to ensure        security, and would not require public or private keys. In        particular, non-content data, such as the sender and receiver        address details, are masked from those not involved in the        private communication. A public paper by Jonathan Warren        describes the Bitmessage system: “Bitmessage: A Peer-to Peer        Message Authentication and Delivery System”, Nov. 27, 2012,        herein incorporated by reference. An example of another secure        real-time messaging system is Peter Zimmermann's ZRTP protocol.        It is described in IETF's RFC 6189, “ZRTP: Media Path Key        Agreement for Unicast Secure RTP”, Apr. 11, 2011, herein        incorporated by reference.    -   3.) Full encryption of UAV data-at-rest, stored on, for example,        hard disks and solid state storage devices. An example of a        freely available product is TrueCrypt. The UAV operator        specifies a password to the program which provides real-time        encryption for the data residing on the permanent storage media,        used on the UAV and the operator's computing device. Should the        UAV fall into the wrong hands, the hard disk data would remain        encrypted unless the password were known. Additionally, hidden        disk partitions could be deployed for particularly sensitive        data, using a separate password.

FIG. 5 describes the traditional air-to-air surveillance methods usingthe 1090/1030 MHz band RF links to provide other aircraft informationabout each other. Another newer band, 978 MHz, is also used for thispurpose, in a Universal Access Transceiver (UAT). Typically the weightof such systems has been significant, thus lightweight UAV may not bevery effective in carrying an individual ABD-S surveillance system.

FIG. 6 shows a UAV package delivery flight path corridor (labeled A andB) and absolute, “NO-FLY” zones (labeled C). There are in fact manyconstraints that will likely restrict package delivery UAV, thus givingrise to the need to develop UAV flight-corridor path managementsolutions.

FIG. 7 shows an allowed flight area (labeled C) consisting of ahorizontal corridor, a “NO-FLY” zone, and an accepted vertical drop-offpath (labeled B).

FIG. 8 shows a depiction of package delivery UAVs flying along a flightcorridor.

FIG. 9 illustrates how UAV RF communications can be secured usingvirtual private networks (VPNs) or tunnels, along with packetencryption, such as AES.

FIG. 11 illustrates a UAV flight path corridor system according to anembodiment.

-   -   1.) A commercial UAV flight corridor system is defined for major        metro communities or other geopolitical areas, that capture        agreements between various end-users (package receipt        customers), military, governments (local, county, federal),        safety issues, landowner constraints, etc. These agreed-to UAV        flight corridors need to be managed, and UAVs within them, to        avoid collisions inside the corridor.    -   2.) Each corridor link or path leg, between landing/takeoff pads        has the notion of UAV density. New UAVs that enter the 3D UAV        flight path Corridor system must be managed, and have flight        paths that do not conflict with the current traffic flow within        a corridor or link/leg. Obviously a corridor could fill to        capacity, thus adding new UAVs to a high density corridor/leg        would introduce unsafe flying conditions. the density may change        unexpectedly over time, due to various uncontrollable        abnormalities such as birds, unidentified aircraft, sudden        unacceptable wind conditions, etc.    -   3.) Keeping the density below some threshold is good, because it        may be required to stop an entire flight corridor        segment/leg/path, to allow for a flock of birds to pass, to        allow for other aircraft to pass safely, or to reverse the        entire flight corridor to account for dangerous windy conditions        or some new/unplanned social/legal/military constraint set        (E.G., NFL football/military operation in the area, etc.).    -   4.) Tiered UAV flight planning and management: Since the        agreed-to UAV package flight corridors constrain UAVs to fly        within a relatively tight area, each UAV within the flight        corridor path needs individual, fined-tuned flight management.        Each UAV, as a minimum, needs sensors and radio telemetry        electronics and radios for RF mesh/cell tower data        communication. However due to weight and power constraints it is        unreasonable for each UAV to have a significant amount of        on-board control and management electronics, UAT transponders,        etc. It is reasonable to have one or more ‘dynamic control        ship(s), or DCS″ UAV, within a flock of UAVs, to include no        payload delivery packages, but to have a UAT aircraft        surveillance transponder server, as well as local flight        management computing server that micro-manages a small flock of        UAVs. Each UAV may have per-defined flight path instructions        pre-programmed, prior to launch, but dynamic conditions need        management control instructions that must take priority. Notions        exist for overall path trip planning and management, consisting        of collections of flight corridors. At another tier, flight        control is needed within a corridor, to maintain individual UAV        flight safety, maintain UAV flight within the corridor, and keep        density below some defined threshold, to allow for orderly and        optimized flight.    -   5.) The need exists to halt or even reverse UAV in flight        corridors, to create an open space for unplanned aircraft or        birds/other flying objects. In this case, a DCS UAV, nearby, so        that strong RF links would not be required, is an ideal means to        provide local control RF messages to nearby package UAV. The DCS        would also have higher-powered RF systems to facilitate        longer-range communications, perhaps also using FLIR lasers to        sense and manage package UAV, and to communicate with ground        base stations.    -   6.) The need exists to manage corridor density to optimize        overall delivery time, and to balance with various constraints        such as time, battery remaining, UAV refueling, etc.    -   7.) UAV Landing/Takeoff Pads: these could be maintained by        building owners or other third parties. Landing/takeoff pads can        be used to repair UAV, replace batteries, charge batteries,        Accept and receive packages for alternate and/or supplemental        delivery means, such as local bicycle couriers. Pads may be        constructed with complex electronics/sensors to guide the last        few flight meters of distance and location to an exact        landing/takeoff location spot on the landing pad. Alternatively        the landing pad may incorporate electromechanical, or purely        mechanical means to facilitate the easy landing and takeoff of a        UAV, without the requirement for advanced electronics/sensors        for the last few flight meters. Pads might use cone-like        structures to allow easy flight controls to drop the UAV into        the cone structure, for easier battery replacement, recharging,        package receipt and submission, and similar functions. The pad        could also be a modified U.S. Post box with a top that opens to        allow for a UAV to drop a package into the U.S. mail box. A        means to weigh its contents, then relay that info via Wi-Fi,        Bluetooth, or other means, back to a user's Ethernet network,        would allow customers to learn that new mail, or a package has        arrived in their mail box.        Communication UAV System:

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of an embodiment of theavionics system 1200 for a UAV (which may be an embodiment of the UAV100).

Referring to FIG. 12, the avionics system 1200 that includes one or moreof a flight management system 1210, a mission data subsystem 1212, acontrol and telemetry radio 1214, a GPS receiver 1216, a VHF air bandradio 1218, an ATC transponder 1220, a ADS-B subsystem 1222, an attitudereference unit 1224, an alternate navigation receiver 1226, an autopilotsubsystem 1228, and an alternate navigation sensor subsystem 1230. Withreference to FIG. 1, the avionics system 1200 may have analogs in thevarious components of the UAV 100 as one of ordinary skill in the artcan appreciate. For example, the flight management system 1210 may beanalogous to or included in the control system 110 (the UAV controlsystem 110 may also include the mission data subsystem 1212 and theautopilot subsystem 1228 in the flight control components 170). In oneembodiment, the control and telemetry radio 1214, the VHF air band radio1218, and the ATC transponder 1220 may be analogous to or included inthe communications components 120). In one embodiment, the GPS receiver1216 may be analogous to, or included in, the geolocation components130. In one embodiment, the ADS-B subsystem 1222 and the alternativenavigation receiver 1226 may be analogous to the navigation components140. In one embodiment, the alternate navigation sensor subsystem 1230may be analogous to, or included in, the sensory components 160. In oneembodiment, the attitude reference unit 1224 may be analogous to, orincluded in, the orientation components 150.

In an embodiment of an UAV having the avionics system 1200 such a UAVmay be used as a specialized communications station for communicatingwith and/or relaying communication to and/or from other UAVs or stationswithin an operational area of the UAV having the avionics system 1200.As discussed above, UAVs and other airborne vehicles in general eachhave a payload (or cargo) weight limitation (e.g., the amount of weightthe UAV can carry while in airborne operation). Further, additionalpayload weight (whether or not the payload weight limitation is reached)can adversely affect the fuel or energy or other resource consumptionand usage of the UAV (e.g., a UAV with a heavier payload will use upmore energy to stay airborne and/or move than a similar UAV with alighter payload). Additionally, the duration of operation of the UAV mayalso be affected by the weight of the payload (e.g., a UAV with aheavier payload may shortened continuous airborne operation timecompared with a similar UAV with a lighter payload; thus requiring theheavier UAV to potentially land to recharge or replace its fuel orbattery more frequently).

As such, it is desirable to limit the weight of payloads of a UAV. Oneway to increase the weight payloads is to limit the weight of theequipment onboard the UAV. For example, for a UAV that is used mainlyfor delivering payloads or packages (e.g., a UAV as discussed withreferences to FIGS. 4A-4D), it may be desirable for the UAV to carryonly the necessary equipment for flight operation such that theacceptable weight for the payloads is maximized. For example, a deliveryUAV may only require the necessary radio (e.g., a control and telemetryradio) for the operator controlling the UAV and other flight controlcomponents but would not necessarily need other communication components(e.g., VHF radio or other high bandwidth communication radio forcarrying other communications). In another example, it may be desirablefor a UAV used for photography or videography (e.g., with a camerapayload) to include a high bandwidth radio to transmit capturedphotographs or videos in sufficiently real time in high quality butsince such a high bandwidth radio may not be necessary for flight, theradio be dispensed with in order to reduce the weight of the UAV.

For some environments, it is desirable to have a specializedcommunication UAV for communicating and/or relaying communications withother UAVs, in the operational area of the communication UAV, in orderto allow these other UAVs to perform their designated tasks (e.g.,transport cargo). In an embodiment, the communication UAV may include afirst communication component (e.g., a short range radio). In anembodiment, the communication component may operate in an unallocatedspectrum (e.g., Wi-Fi, 900 Mhz, or other unlicensed bands) for receivingand/or transmitting communication with the other UAVs. The other UAVsmay correspondingly have a similar communication component for thecommunication. Such radio communication may be of a relatively shortrange (less than ¼ miles or 0.4 kilometers); accordingly, the powerrequirement and correspondingly the weight of the communicationcomponent may be reduced. Further, the interference of such radiocommunication may be acceptable for operation in the unallocatedspectrum.

In an embodiment of the communication UAV, it may further include asecond communication component for communicating and relayingcommunication to a radio receiver (likely a transceiver) operablywirelessly coupled in a wireless network with geographically dispersedplurality of network transceivers for providing wireless communicationsover a geographic area much larger than the coverage area of anyone ofthe network receivers or transceivers. Such a radio receiver (likelytransceiver) is referred to as a “communication point” herein. Note thatsuch a communication point may be supported on the ground, airborne, inspace, and further may be mobile, or substantially fixed in itslocation. Further, such a communication point may be wirelessly (orotherwise) connected to a particular network (e.g., the Internet) forthe transmission of communications. For example, such a communicationpoint may be a cellular fixed location base station providing a point ofpresence (POP) to the Internet. Note that the second communicationcomponent may operate in an allocated spectrum since communication fromor to the second communication component may be longer range and mayneed more protection from interference. Also, the second communicationcomponent may provide for directional communication signal to acommunication point (e.g., a directed signal to a terrestrial basestation). As such, the second communication component may include adirectional antenna and a mechanical system for moving the directionalantenna (towards the communication point). Accordingly, such a secondcommunication component may be relatively heavy in comparison to otherUAV communication components.

In operation, the UAVs within the operational area of a communicationUAV may effectively relay communication using lighter communicationequipment through the communication UAV in order to access an outsidenetwork. Such a communication UAV may be considered a pico-cell within awider operational wireless area, wherein, e.g., the communication UAV isused for extending a range of a cellular network.

In an embodiment, multiple communication UAVs may be deployed in anenlarged operational area (e.g., an operational area beyond the range ofa single communication UAV). In this arrangement, the multiplecommunication UAVs may form a mesh network coverage within theoperational area for providing communication for UAVs in the operationalarea. In another view, the communication UAVs may form an ad hocpico-cellular wireless base station group for providing wirelesscommunications to other UAVs that otherwise would not have adequatewireless communications. In one embodiment, such communication UAVs aregeospatially arranged (in 3D space) in a formation to enhance wirelesscommunications between, e.g., cargo transport UAVs, and between suchcargo transport UAVs and a particular network (e.g., the Internet). Inone embodiment, several of the communication UAVs may be arranged in aserial formation such that an ad hoc daisy-chain, thereby forming awireless network in a longitudinal 3D space. The formation may be usedto provide various communications services, such as on-the-fly cellularhot-spot coverage in areas of marginal or no current cellular/Wi-Ficoverage exists.

In one embodiment, such a communication UAV may include two or more ofthe second communication components for communicating with two or morecommunication points. For example, one of the second communicationcomponents may communicate with a first communication point (e.g., acellular tower) and another of the second communication components maycommunicate with another communication point (e.g., a communicationsatellite or another cellular tower at another location). Accordingly,the second communication components may need to have separate antennas(e.g., directional antenna) for their corresponding wirelesscommunications. In one embodiment, such a communication UAV may beoriented to facilitate the separate communication components intransmitting and receiving a signal of sufficient signal strength withthe other communication points. For example, depending on where thedirectional antennas are located on the communication UAV, thecommunication UAV may configure itself to allow a maximum separation ofthe communication signals when the directional antennas are oriented toaccept the signal from their respective communication points.

In an embodiment, the communication UAV may employ channel bondingtechniques through the two or more separate communication components forcommunicating with the respective two or more communication points. Forexample, the separate communication components may be communicating withtwo cellular towers of two different carriers or service providers atdifferent spectrum. As such, channel bonding techniques may be used foraggregating communications through the separate channels for increasedbandwidth, redundancy, or other desirable effects. In a more generalizedexample, a number of alternative wireless channels/networks, such asKu-Band, military, public safety, aeronautical bands, may be used toprovide the wireless communication services through channel bonding.This may also include expanding the data network capacity via themultiple paths of backbone communications, to increase overall bandwidthbetween various endpoints. Either same-carrier or cross-carrier channelaggregation may be used. For example, cross-carrier data channelaggregation is utilized where such mutual cell or Ku-band coverage isavailable, to enable increased bandwidth-handling capacity. In anotherexample, same carrier channel aggregation may be used by transmitting adirected signal to two cellular tower of the same carrier in oppositedirections.

In an embodiment, a non-UAV communication station may be used in placeof a communication UAV for operations by the communication UAV asdiscussed above and herein in this disclosure. For example, the non-UAVcommunication station may include the communication components (e.g.,the control and telemetry radio 1214, the VHF air band radio 1218, andthe ATC transponder 1220), the geolocation components (e.g., the GPSreceiver 1216), and/or the navigation components (e.g., the ADS-Bsubsystem 1222 and the alternative navigation receiver 1226) but lackthe control systems and/or the piloting components (e.g., the autopilotsystem 1228) that would control and/or maneuver the UAV while airborne.As such, the non-UAV communication station may be able to detect,control, manage, communicate/provide communication, and/or provide otherfunctions to UAVs within the operational area of the non-UAVcommunication station but non-UAV communication station would not becapable in active airborne operational deployment. In an embodiment, thenon-UAV communication station may be deployed ground-based, on top or atthe side of large buildings, or at other suitable locations.

In an embodiment, a number of communication UAVs and/or non-UAVcommunication stations operating in an aggregate operational area mayform a communication UAV system that provides at least communicationservice for other UAVs in the aggregate operational area.

In an embodiment, the communication UAVs (individually or collectively)may be deployed at various locations, including unplanned locations (asopposed to predetermined locations such as a UAV corridor) to establishand provide of an ad hoc network servicing other UAVs and/or othernetwork devices (e.g., portable devices such as smart phones used by theuser directly). Since UAVs may operate at an elevated height (e.g.,airborne), the communication UAVs may be suitable replacement forcellular or other radio towers providing wireless communication to anarea. In an embodiment, the communication UAVs may be deployed atlocations where existing communication infrastructure is inadequate(e.g., lacking or damaged) to provide a temporary extended communicationaccess. In an embodiment, the communication UAVs may also provide a meshnetwork for other UAVs operating in the area (e.g., for other UAVs thatmay be carrying payloads into the area). This is particularly applicableto military (e.g., establishing communication and/or logistics to abattle front), events (e.g., establishing and/or bolstering thecommunication infrastructure in an area with an unexpected, temporarymass of people), disaster relief, urban planning and/or construction,and other applications.

In an embodiment, a communication UAV may also be include (or becontrolled by) algorithms, robotics, and/or artificial intelligence forfinding and determining a position where it can be deployed (e.g., inthe deployment scenario discussed above). For example, the communicationUAV may select an optimal area for deployment based on finding an areaof weak communication coverage (thereby maximizing the communicationUAV's usefulness). The communication UAV may also select an area thatmaximizes its communication coverage area (e.g., by selecting to operateat a location with a large amount of expected users). Also, thecommunication UAV may consider minimizing the use of its resources(e.g., to prolong its operational duration). For example, thecommunication UAV may select to dock to a high object (e.g., top ofbuildings, lamp posts, towers, hills) so that it does not need to expendenergy to hover. Further, the communication UAV may consider that someareas it may be prohibited or discouraged to operate in (e.g., privateproperty, restricted airspace). As such, in an embodiment, acommunication UAV (or another system deploying the UAV) may consider thevarious factors for an automated deployment.

Aerial Traffic Services:

In an embodiment, a communication station (e.g., either UAV or non-UAV)may also include communications with aerial traffic and/or collisionavoidance systems and/or services.

A recent Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal AviationAdministration (FAA) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), docket no.FAA-2015-0150; Notice No, 15-01, herein incorporated by reference, pg.29, notes that UAVs must comply with the see-and-avoid requirement of 14CFR part 91, § 91.113(b) in order to integrate civil small UAVoperations into the National Air Space (NAS). Pg. 21, notes, “ . . .small unmanned aircraft are unable to see and avoid other aircraft inthe NAS. Therefore, small UAV operations conflict with the FAA's currentoperating regulations . . . specifically, at the heart of the part 91operating regulations is 91.113(b), which requires each person operatingan aircraft to maintain vigilance “so as to see and avoid otheraircraft”. Pg. 30 notices, “At this point in time, we have determinedthat technology has not matured to the extent that would allow small UAVto be used safely in lieu of visual line of sight without creating ahazard to other user of the NAS or the public, or posing a threat tonational safety. On pg. 20, The DOT/FAA further explains, “[a]lthoughground-based radar and the Traffic Collision Avoidance system (TCAS)have done an excellent job in reducing the mid-air collision ratebetween manned aircraft. Unfortunately, the equipment required toutilize these widely available technologies is currently too large andheavy to be used in small UAV operations. Until this equipment isminiaturized to the extent necessary . . . existing technology does notappear to provide a way to resolve the ‘see and avoid’ problem withsmall UAV operations without maintaining human visual contact with thesmall unmanned aircraft during flight.”

As such, a critical solution is the enablement of a system or means toinform other aircraft (manned and unmanned), of the location,identification, and movement direction of aircraft. Aerial trafficand/or collision avoidance systems and/or services are essential indirecting traffic and/or avoiding collisions among aerial vehicles incontrolled and uncontrolled airspace. Aerial traffic services mayinclude one or more or a combination of an automated service and/or ahuman operator controlled service. For example, an automated service maybe predominately machine controlled and operated for directing trafficand/or avoiding collision. In another example, a machine assistedservice may use inputs from one or more automated sensors, radars, orother inputs that describes the airspace to determine and provide alertsand/or instructions to a human operator of an aerial vehicle and/or theservice. In another example, a human operator controlled service relieson the human operator of an aerial vehicle and/or the service to providealert, instructions, and/or control of aerial vehicles in the airspace.Some aerial traffic service technology currently in use or proposedinclude Air Traffic Control (ATC), Traffic Collision Avoidance System(TCAS), and Automatic Dependent Surveillance—Broadcast (ADS-B).

ATC is a service provided by ground-based operators (air trafficcontroller) who direct aircraft in a controlled airspace and on thegroup. As such, ATC functions to organize air traffic and to preventcollisions. ATC may also provide relevant advisory information andservices (e.g., weather information) other support for aerial vehicleoperators. The primary method of communication of an ATC with aerialvehicle operators are through voice communication over radio. Theoperator of the ATC have the information of the ground and airspace theoperator is responsible for through a combination of the voicecommunications (from the aerial vehicle operators), visual observation(e.g., from a control tower), radar systems in the area (e.g., secondarysurveillance radar), and other systems (e.g., surface movement radar(SMR) or surface movement guidance and control system (SMGCS)).

TCAS is a system for collision avoidance of aerial vehicles to reducethe incidences of collisions between aerial vehicles while airborne.TCAS is typically installed on an aerial vehicle for monitoring theairspace around the aerial vehicle and is equipped with a transponderfor communication with other aerial vehicles in the vicinity. TCAS warnsthe operators of aerial vehicles of the presence of TCAS or othertransponder-equipped aircraft when a threat of mid-air collision (MAC)is detected. TCAS may work independent of ATC and is mandated by thevarious national and international agencies (e.g., ICAO) for certainaerial vehicles. Communications from the transponders of TCAS isprimarily as a digital message in a specified format.

Standardized radio and computing machinery systems employing the TCAStechnology (and also ATC) to discretely address interrogation and dataexchange beacon systems have been available for over 30 years to performthese types of tasks. Typically, a 200 watt digital transponder radio inthe 1 GHz radio band (1090 MHz and 1030 MHz) is used to transmit andreceive messages using a well-defined modulation and protocol format.These radio signal digital messages can be received and processedeffectively by neighboring aerial vehicles and/or ground communicationssystems. Message types include broadcast, as well as query-responsemessages. Radio signals are used to provide a significant amount ofuseful information, including, for example, the aircraft ID, X, Y and Zposition, speed, type of aircraft, direction, altitude, size, weight,etc. Various algorithms have been defined and are used to informaircraft operators of potential collisions and provide means to informof actions required to avoid a collision. In some cases, the equipmentcan be used to automatically prevent a collision.

An example of the current TCAS system architecture is described byHenley in 2001, “Introduction to TCAS II 2000,” herein incorporated byreference.

More recent advances in technology have been introduced, such as TCASIII, TCAS-IV, and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B),which use global position system information, and the time required totransmit and receive a radio signal (sometimes called the tau time). Thetau time was useful when precise GPS data was not available, or trusted.A vector of the intruding aircraft could be calculated, along with thecurrent aircraft, to determine the Closest Point of Approach (CPA) (of acollision). “Introduction to ADS-B,” available athttp://www.trig-avionics.com/knowledge-bank/ads-b/introduction-to-ads-b,is herein incorporated by reference.

As discussed above and herein in this disclosure, UAVs may have weightand other limitation that hinder or prevent the UAV from easily carryingnumerous equipments (e.g., full TCAS and/or ADS-B types transponders andthe associated antennas). Although UAV cannot easily carry TCAS andADS-B types of transponders with antennas, this equipment could beplaced in a near-by area of a UAV or a plurality of UAV. In anembodiment, a computational machinery server may be used, incommunication with a secure, trusted wireless network of communicationsbetween and among UAV and a modified TCAS/ADS-B transponder system. EachUAV may provide the UAV transponder system with its individualidentifier, flight data details, and/or other information. A planned andactual flight plan data set may also be stored in the TCAS/ADS-Btransponder server for subsequent radio transmission, should real-timecommunications become lost, between a given UAV and the transponderserver. Additional message types or unallocated fields in messages canbe used to provide UAV-specific data that are not within the realm ofmanned aerial vehicle. Examples include whether or not a given UAV datais in real-time (actual), or stored/estimated. Other data may includecategory-specific data, such as commercial vs. government use, packagedelivery details, remaining time-in-flight, battery information,specific UAV flight restrictions, flight paths landing, and/ormaneuvering and plans.

One implementation of a UAV transponder server system may use securedmessaging within a public wireless band, such as a Wi-Fi radio frequencyband. In a preferred embodiment, each UAV includes two digitaltransceivers, capable of operating on separate frequencies, orpreferably, on separate bands. In separating, for example, the commandand control messages from transponder server system messages, the UAVtransponder server system may have the desirable effects of lowershared-media packet message congestion, less chance of data packetcollision, and more reliability with the UAV transponder server system(UTSS). In an embodiment, as UAVs generally communicate wirelessly witha manned pilot control system, thus this same UAV position and flightdata could be extracted and used as sensor data to the UTSS.

Several modifications may be performed to modify a standard TCAS/ADS-Btransponder functions to a UAV TCAS/ADS-B capable transponder serversystem (UTSS). Current TCAS/ADS-B transponders are designed to receivesignals from a group of sensors aboard a single aerial vehicle, and totransmit messages (either of broadcast or query-response type), based ona single aerial vehicle's data exchange. In an embodiment, a TCAS/ADS-Btransponder for the UTSS may support multiple aerial vehicles in termsof the radio transmission side. In this case, multiple RF transmissionsfor multiple aerial vehicles could be supported by adding separateaerial vehicle query-response data registers, used to support aplurality of aerial vehicle data for radio transmission to othersystems. In another embodiment, multiple separate sensor data registersand ways of populating these registers with a plurality of appropriateUAV sensor data groups can be added to the TCAS/ADS-B systems.Additional logic may be provided to coordinate switching control suchthat the corresponding aerial vehicle linkages are maintained between agiven aerial vehicle's sensor data and the corresponding radiotransmission query-response data for a given aerial vehicle.

In an additional embodiment, sensor and other data from multiple UAVsand/or other aerial vehicles in the vicinity may be aggregated by theUTSS as an aggregated dataset used in the communication and/or otherpurposes, for a more reliable and complete dataset. For example, datafrom sensors of various UAVs may give indications of the conditions indifferent areas of the airspace. Also, some of these data may beconsidered more reliable than others (e.g., a UAV or other aerialvehicle with better sensors, the aerial vehicle being closer to the areawhere the data is for, a fake or unreliable data due to equipmentmalfunction or malicious intent). The aggregation of the dataset maythen be dependent on such reliability factors, and may be ranked orweighted when aggregated to the aggregate dataset. In an embodiment, theaggregated data may be used in place of actual data for a UAV.Alternatively viewed, the UTSS may act as a unified data source forsupported UAVs in the vicinity with respect to the air traffic servicessuch as TCAS/ADS-B.

In an embodiment, the transponder for the air traffic services (e.g.,TCAS/ADS-B transponders) may be deployed on a communication UAV asdiscussed above and herein in this disclosure for providing the airtraffic services to other UAVs in the operational area of thecommunication UAV, to facilitate coordinated communications among mannedaerial vehicles, as well as other UAVs for a variety of reasons,including collision avoidance, with the UAVs. For example, the UAVs maycommunicate, through the mesh network, with the communications UAVswhich may have the air traffic services transponders to obtain theassociated data and/or to communicate with the various operators and/orparties of the air traffic services. As discussed, since general UAVradio systems may not be able to implement long-range communications, amessage store-and-forward capability may also be implemented into thecommunication UAV and the associated mesh network (e.g., as opposed to arouted message system by the communication UAV). Various challengesexist in UAV radio communications, thus having a plurality of UAVs, withat least some in radio communications with a mesh network, to enable allUAV to communicate, is very desirable. By combining mesh networking(mesh network principles and implementations as known now or may belater derived) within a fleet of UAVs, and command and control, and TCASor other air traffic service transponder capability, it is possible tosatisfy DOT/FAA requirements for positive control, safety andsee-and-avoid, and collision avoidance capability among all aerialvehicles for all UAVs in an area of interest.

In an embodiment, the UTSS may also be implemented in a communicationUAV or in another stations (e.g., terrestrial station for an operationalarea).

FIG. 10 illustrates a diagram of a UAT, ADS-B server-based system formultiple UAVs according to an embodiment. In an embodiment, the UATserver-based system 1010 can be carried aboard one (or more, forredundancy) dedicated UAV (e.g., a communication UAV as discussed aboveand herein in this disclosure) or station within a UAV system 1000 in anaccessible location (e.g., a somewhat central location) of a fleet ofother UAVs 1020A-1020N. As discussed above, each UAV 1020A-1020N maysend telemetry and other individual UAV-specific data, using a RF band(through transceiver 1013) separate from the ADS-B system (e.g., meshnetwork), to the UAT server 1010 carried by the dedicated UAV. Thisindividual data includes for example, UAV identifier, latitude andlongitude (e.g., from a GPS), altitude, and other related data. The UATserver 1010 stores each UAV's data, and schedules and multiplexes eachUAV's data through the ADS-B Dual Band transceivers 1014A and 1014B.This scheme allows each the UAVs 1020A-1020N to inform other aerialvehicles 1040 and/or ATC 1030 of its whereabouts, without having theweight and power drain requirements of a dedicated UAT. The UAV carryingthe dedicated UAT server 1010 may also include a processing system 1011to provide communications back to a given UAV 1020A-1020N, for a varietyof reasons. Example include flight-plan modifications where the UATservice 1010 acquires new information that one or more of the fleet UAVs1020A-1020N is suddenly in flight danger from, e.g., birds, or otherunknown objects that could affect the standard UAV flight path/safety.Examples of ADS-B transceivers may be provided by Aspen Avionics,available at http://www.aspenavionics.com/products/nextgen, hereinincorporated by reference. Another example of ADS-B transponder includesthe XPC-TR, XPS-TR, XPG-TR, and other transponder by SagetechCorporation. Robert C. Strain, et al., “A Lightweight, Low-cost ADS-BSystem for UAS Applications,” The MITRE Corporation, Case Number07-0634, 2007, is herein incorporated by reference. U.S. Pat. Pub. No.2012/0038501, entitled “Self-configuring universal access transceiver,”herein incorporated by references, discusses a multiplexing server thatsubmits individual UAV data to a central area-based ADS-B transceiversystem.

In an embodiment, it is noted that ATC communications (and other voicecommunications in general) may be relayed through the communication UAVsystem. For example, voice communications from the ATC directed to aparticular UAV (or a number of UAV) may be received by a communicationUAV (or other communication station in the communication UAV system)through VHF radio and packetized and sent through the Internet (via acellular tower or other point of presence) to an operator of theparticular UAV. In another example, the communication UAV system mayforward contact information (e.g., a VoIP address) of the operator ofthe a UAV to the ATC, where the ATC can then directly contact theoperator using the contact information.

FIG. 15 illustrates an exemplary diagram of a layout of a general ADS-Bsystem for a UAV system according to an embodiment.

U.S. Pat. No. 9,274,521, entitled “Employing local, opportunisticautomatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) information processedby an unmanned aerial vehicle ground control station to augment othersource “knowledge” of local aircraft position information for improvingsituational awareness,” which is herein incorporated by references,discloses a system and method for employing local, opportunistic ADS-Bto augment other source knowledge of local aircraft position informationfor improving situational awareness in areas lacking ADS-B coverageprovided by aircraft control agencies. Locally-received, such as in avicinity of a UAV or sUAS, ADS-B positional information is received by aUAV, sUAS or associated ground control station and integrated on adisplay component of the ground control station, e.g., a pilot display,for the UAV or sUAS. In an embodiment, the UTSS and the UAT server-basedsystem may be modified to implement the local, opportunistic ADS-Bsystem and method. In a further embodiment, the local, opportunisticADS-B system may be implement with and as part of the communication UAVsand system, UAV corridor system, flight management system, and othersystems as disclosed herein.

Navigation

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary diagram of a distance-based positiondetermination system for a UAV system according to an embodiment. FIG.14 illustrates an exemplary diagram of a angle-based positiondetermination system for a UAV system according to an embodiment.

Radio navigation has two fundamental forms: RHO which measures orestimates the distance to a known point, and THETA which measures theazimuth to a known point. GPS in a RHO RHO system is capable ofmeasuring a three dimensional point anywhere on or near the surface ofthe earth. With a priori knowledge of the orbital characteristics,including errors, and a stable time source, an excellent estimate can bemade of the distance to each of the satellites, which a navigationreceiver on a UAV can see resulting in an accurate estimate of position,albeit in a somewhat esoteric coordinate system.

It is noted that the data from GPS satellites is very close to thenatural ambient noise level, As such, it is subject to signal loss frompowerful radio transmitters in the vicinity, including militaryoperations, intentional jamming, and/or obstructions to the horizon

In the case of GPS signal loss, it is desirable to have alternatepositioning and/or navigation strategies for a UAV. These options mayinclude eLoran, inertial guidance, dead reckoning, RF environmentaugmented dead reckoning, and/or some form of Terrain ReferencedNavigation. There are advantages and disadvantages to each of theseoptions, as follows:

eLoran is a proposed technology which would effectively provide analternative to GPS navigation. However, it is expected that eLoran wouldbe subject to the similar geometry issues which plagued the obsoleteLoran-C which eLoran is projected to replace. This would need databasesupport for the coordinate conversion of a Loran chain to Cartesiancoordinate conversion as well as database support to switch to anotherchain, if the current Loran geometry does not permit a reasonable, orany solution, of the Loran coordinates.

Dead reckoning, using airspeed and heading information based on a prioriknowledge of position speed, is an effective method of mitigatingtransient GPS outages. Navigation errors, however, rapidly increase toan unacceptable level.

Inertial guidance is a similar technology to dead reckoning. An issuewith inertial guidance is that it is too large and too expensive withcurrent technology.

Terrain Referenced Navigation is a non-radio navigation system which ismore analogous to reading a road map and comparing it to the surroundingfeatures. For example, a radar, scanning LIDAR, and/or passive opticalscanner operating at a fixed angle may provide a scan which can then becorrelated with a geographically encoded database, such as the USDepartment of Commerce TIGER database or open street map.

In any urban or suburban environment there are a plethora of stationaryRF emitters, such as cell towers. Used in a RHO RHO navigation solution,RF environment augments dead reckoning would need the ability toproperly identify each emitter, an extensive database of accurate surveydata and frequency stability well beyond what is currently required bythe regulatory authorities. However, a UAV equipped with a small arrayof antennas could navigate with a THETA THETA method. This requires atwo-step method, where the first step is acquiring and cataloging themost powerful of local emitters, as well as providing angular data andeliminating those emitters which are located at small angles to thecurrent location. Using a priori knowledge of the initial position,e.g., as a GPS position, and a reasonably large number of THETAs, aposition can be derived which is limited only by the UAVs ability tomeasure the angle, THETA, of the emitter. If the UAV is to be operatedin close proximity to the control station (e.g., a station of thecommunication UAV system where the UAV is communicating with), then thecontrol station can compare its position to a THETA THETA solution andan equivalent THETA THETA solution at the UAV to determine a Cartesianposition. Additional methods of resolving position using RF environmentaugments dead reckoning or other wireless positioning method isdisclosed in Alan Bensky, Wireless Positioning Technologies andApplications, ed. Artech House, 2007, which is herein incorporate byreference.

In an embodiment, the UAV and/or the communication UAV system may alsouse a combination of the available positioning and/or navigation methods(including GPS if available) to determine a position and/or heading ofthe UAV. By combining the data from all the navigation and/orgeolocation sensors and/or component on the UAV (together with knowninformation from other sources such as the location of cellular towersfor some positioning methods), a series of positioning and/or headingmeasurements can be made over time. These measurements/estimates maycontain statistical noise and other inaccuracies, with some methodsbeing less accurate than others. An aggregate of thesemeasurements/estimates may tend to be more precise than those based on asingle measurement alone with one positioning method.

In an embodiment, a process may be used to aggregate the positioningmeasurements/estimates. In the prediction step of the process, currentposition estimates are determined based on the current state variables(e.g., the current position as measured), along with theiruncertainties. Once the outcome of the next measurement (which maynecessarily be corrupted with some amount of error, including randomnoise) is observed, the position estimates may be updated using aweighted average, with more weight being given to estimates with highercertainty. For example, a measurement from a GPS receiver and/or bywireless geolocation may be given more weight than a measurement from aterrain referenced navigation method, perhaps due to the higherprecision of the GPS and/or the wireless geolocation method if the UAVis operating in an open area where signals from GPS satellite and/orwireless towers would not be susceptible to multipath and/or othersignal effects). However, if the UAV is operating in an area withvarious obstructing features (e.g., buildings, mountains), a terrainreferences navigation method may use the obstructing features to give amore precise measurement than GPS and/or wireless geolocation that maybe affected by multipath and/or other signal effects (e.g., from thebuildings). As such, in an embodiment the weight of a measurement orestimate may be adjusted depending on the location of the UAV. Further,in an embodiment, the weight of a measurement or estimate may also beadjusted over time (e.g., an initial measurement/estimate using a deadreckoning method is much more precise than subsequent measurement afterthe method have been used for some time). The process may be recursiveand can run in real time, using only the present input measurements andthe previously calculated state and its uncertainty matrix; noadditional past information is required.

In an embodiment, a location of a UAV may be measured and/or estimatedwith certain precision by using known/measured positions of other UAVsin the area. For example, if the location of a UAV is known (e.g.,through a GPS measurement on the UAV), and the UAV is able tocommunicate its location, the location of another UAV may be determinedusing the positioning methods as discussed above (e.g., a RHO THETAcalculation). In an embodiment, when both UAVs are part of or able toconnect with the communication UAV system, the position of one UAV maybe used to determine the position of the other UAV based on knowndistances, angles, or other measurements of the UAVs within thecommunication UAV system.

In an embodiment, the position and/or the trajectory of an unknown UAV(e.g., a UAV that is not recognized, is not connected, and/or has lostcontact to the communication UAV system) may be tracked when the unknownUAV is operating within the operating area of the communication UAVsystem and/or as it moves outside of the operating area. Using thepositioning and navigating methods as discussed above, the positionand/or the trajectory of an unknown UAV can be determined when withinthe operating area.

It may also be desirable to be able to track a UAV that has left theoperational area (e.g., in the case of the unknown UAV or a UAV that hassome failure such as losing operating link with the operator or afailure to flight control). In an embodiment, if a history of theprevious positions and/or the trajectory (e.g. flight pattern) is known,at least within the operational area of the communication UAV system, aprojection of the position and/or flight path of the UAV may beestimated based on the known history when as the UAV has left theoperational area over time. In an embodiment, various projectiontechniques (e.g., based on known flight patterns) may be used for a moresophisticated projection (e.g., rather than a simple projection based onlast known trajectory and position). For example, if the flight patternof a UAV is consistent with a UAV with malfunctioning flight control(e.g., a flight pattern consistent with unpowered flight), then aprojection can be made as to the UAV's potential crash position even ifthe crash position is outside of the operational area. In an embodiment,certain action may be taken (e.g., by the communication UAV system) suchas notifying the appropriate entities (e.g., governmental entities orother authorities in the scenario of a projected UAV crash).

Flight Management

Flight management of a UAV may be performed by the flight managementsystem (FMS) (e.g., flight management system 1210). In an embodiment,the flight management system receives various navigation data availableon the UAV and utilizes the databases available for navigation, inaddition to maintaining the flight plan and/or maintaining contingencyflight plans, such as loss of control channel or important navigationdata. Other functions may include avoiding or mitigating special useairspace, situational awareness of other vehicles and/or stationarycollision objects, and maintaining control and telemetry channels. In anembodiment, the FMS system is capable of providing a holistic view ofboth the UAV and its potential mission profile.

In an embodiment, the functions of the FMS may be described in thefollowing categories: Communications, Navigation, Situational Awareness,Flight Plan Management, and Mission Support, which are further disclosedbelow. It is noted that some of these functions may be offloaded intoanother UAV or station similar to the offloading of the communicationfunctions using the communication UAVs.

In an embodiment, the communication function of the FMS system may alsouse other communication methods available to the exploited in theoperational environment of the UAV. For example, methods ofcommunications includes specialized utility air band network (e.g.,Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS)), pointto point and/or point to multipoint very-small-aperture terminal (VSAT)satellite services, satellite based communications utilities (e.g.,Iridium and Marisat), direct connect cellular services, cellular networkbased Internet services, dedicated point-to-point radio (terrestrial,airborne, and/or a combination), and/or ad hoc networks (e.g., Wifi).

As such, the communications medium is essentially independent of themessaging requirements of the UAV. However, in order to permit any oneor more of the possible communications systems outlined above and hereinin this disclosure or other communication systems and/or have the UAVsparticipate in an ad hoc network, a common communications protocol maybe preferred. The common communications protocol may be standardized tobe recognized and used by all UAVs (e.g., in an operational area of acommunication UAV system and/or other UAVs which may be outside of theoperational area of the communication UAV system but need to accessresources (e.g., UTSS or UAT server information) of the communicationUAV system). In an embodiment, these messages may consist of avariation, and could consist of a subset and/or a superset, of thefollowing:

Major Events

A major event function automatically detects and reports the start ofeach major flight phase of a UAV, such as ground roll takeoff, segmentcrossing etc. These events may be detected using input from the UAV'ssensors and the flight management system. At the start of each majorflight event phase, a message may be transmitted to a control entity (orother relevant systems) describing the flight phase, the time at whichit occurred, and other related information such as UAV housekeepingdata. These messages may be used to track the status of the UAV.

Flight Management System Interface

The communication subsystem may interface with flight managementsystems, acting as the communication system for flight plans, weatherdata, and Notice to Airmen (NOTAMS) to be sent from the sources (e.g.,ATC and a communication UAV system) to the flight management system.This enables the UAV operator to update the flight management systemwhile in flight.

Equipment Health and Maintenance Data

This may include information from the UAV to network stations about theconditions of various UAV systems and sensors in real-time. Maintenancefaults and abnormal events may also be transmitted, along with detailedmessages.

Ping Messages

Automated ping messages may be used to test a UAV's connection with thecommunications network (e.g., the mesh network of the communication UAVsystem). In the event that a communications link for a UAV has beensilent for longer than a preset time interval, the communication UAVsystem can ping the UAV. A ping response indicates healthy UAVcommunication.

Manually Sent Messages

Manually sent messages are used to manually fly the UAV by providinginputs to the autopilot system, which may alter the heading, altitude,speed, and/or other flight control functions of the UAV. These messagesalso may tune the air band radio subsystem of the UAV used forcoordinating flights in the current ATC and/or communication UAV systemenvironment.

The situational awareness of a FMS may involve categories such asterrain avoidance, special use air space mitigation, and/or collisionavoidance.

Terrain avoidance may be a function of navigation accuracy, a prioriknowledge of the terrain, a priori knowledge of the airspace usage.Collision avoidance may be a function of a priori knowledge of othervehicles in the area.

Much of the special use airspace is of a static nature, because it isdefined and remains the same for long periods of time. However, anothertype, the Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR), is very dynamic in nature.TFR may occurs at a restricted area around a large sporting event, adisaster area, forest fire, or the immediate area, and sometimes as muchas 30 miles, around the location of a presidential visit.

The static special use air space as well as the areas encompassed byclass B, C and D airspace is defined in NavData, which is publishedevery 22 days by the FAA. This data may be reformatted in a manner moreuseful to UAVs, since a large part of the NavData is not useful forUAVs. This database may be stored on the UAV (for use by the FMS) asneeded for a geographical area of interest.

The data defining TFRs is available in printed form as NOTAM, via ADS-B,and private satellite weather services broadcast over satellite radio,such as XM radio. This data may be up linked to the UAV for the FMSthrough systems like ADS-B or via the control channel or via any othercurrently available means. The data may then be reformatted in a mannercompatible with the static special use airspace format. Data/databasemay also be updateable using communication network (e.g., communicationnetwork service provided by the communication UAV system as discussedabove and herein in this disclosure).

The systems, devices, and methods herein may provide automated responseof a UAV to a detected proximity to a flight-restricted region.Different actions may be taken which could include holding until anoperator updates the flight plan or takes manual control or landing. Thesystems, devices, and methods herein may also use various systems fordetermining the location of the UAV to provide greater assurance thatthe UAV will not inadvertently fly into a flight-restricted region. Insome instances, if the UAV is within a particular distance from theflight-restricted region, the UAV may be restricted from taking off.

In an embodiment, a methodology disclosed herein would have the UAVequipped with an air band remote controlled audio transceiver, whichcould be used to provide voice communication between the UAV pilot airtraffic control (ATC) which could provide additional situationalawareness, as well as coordinating transit into or through many types ofspecial use air space.

ADS-B is a preferred base technology for collision avoidance, since manyof the potential collision targets are other UAVs, which tend to besmall and stealthy. Collision avoidance with a non-ADS-B equipped aerialvehicle is significantly more challenging. Interestingly, there are somecharacteristics of other aerial vehicles. The classic example is thattwo aerial vehicles with an identical velocity at 90 degrees to oneanother at a given altitude is a physical impossibility. However, as theangle decreases, the probability of a collision steadily increases.

There is an interesting characteristic of high probability collisiontargets in three dimensional space, they appear in a constant locationin the field of view of the aerial vehicles. Obviously, the distance ischanging, but the geometric relationship is constant. This appliesequally to fixed objects and other aerial vehicles.

A number of technologies are available to capitalize on thischaracteristic such as radar, scanning LIDAR and passive optical. Thetechnology could be used to “piggy back” on a navigation such as terrainreference navigation, with a field of view, for example, of 30 degreesleft and right of centerline and 7 degrees up and down field of view.

In an embodiment, the FMS may determine the location of restrictedand/or special use airspace in the vicinity of the UAV and providealarms to the unmanned vehicle operator if special use or restrictedairspace will potentially be violated. For some types of airspace, suchas Class C airspace around airports, the mitigation solution might be toincrease altitude. For Class B airspace, the solution might be todecrease altitude.

In an embodiment, UAVs may use optical communication between/among twoor more UAVs for collision avoidance. An unmanned aerial vehicle witheither an active optical system, such as LIDAR, or passive opticalsystem which “looks” for targets that maintain a constant azimuth andelevation relative to the unmanned vehicle. Targets which exhibit thisbehavior relative to the UAV have an extremely high probability ofcolliding with the UAV.

In an embodiment, UAVs have the capability of networking with oneanother to form an ad hoc swarm. These swarms may prevent collisions,providing the UAV with more intelligent coordination between UAV than ispossible with the simplistic FAA strategies outlined in FAR 91.113 orcurrent generation TCAS systems. For example, the UAVs may form an adhoc network via an RF link such as Wi-Fi or on some prearrangedarbitrary radio frequency and implements a swarming protocol for thepurpose of collision avoidance.

UAV Corridors

In an embodiment, UAV corridors (their various characteristics,functions, and applications as disclosed above and herein in thisdisclosure) may be defined by infrastructures and/or systems thatmaintain the corridors for active UAV operation. For example, while someUAV corridors may be primarily defined by property and/or airspacerights and/or governmental approval/restrictions (e.g., defining the UAVcorridors as a 3-dimensional space for legal UAV use), infrastructuresand/or systems for assisting with active UAV flight of the corridordefine the corridor in practice. In another example, for thecommunication UAV system as discussed above and herein in thisdisclosure, an active maintenance of communications UAVs and/or stationswithin the UAV corridor provides the network needed for the operation ofUAVs without the proper long range communication equipment within thecorridor.

In an embodiment, control of an actively maintained UAV corridor may beautomated in one or more centralized locations (e.g., at a hub) ordistributed (e.g., at each component of the systems than maintain thecorridors such as at each communication UAV/station of the communicationUAV system).

Various functions may be performed at the control of the UAV corridor,such as maintaining the infrastructure and systems that maintain thecorridor. For example, communication UAVs that provide variouscommunication functions to UAVs operating in the corridor will need tobe maintained, including docking to recharge or exchange the powersource to keep the communication UAVs powered for airborne. The statusof the communication UAVs would also need to be maintained. For example,if a communication UAV malfunctions, it may cause a break in thecommunication network within the corridor. As such, a replacementcommunication UAV will need to be moved to take the place of themalfunctioned communication UAV within the mesh network. In anotherexample, the density of the communication UAVs at certain areas in thecorridor may need to be managed (e.g., more communications UAVs may beneeded in certain area at a time to provide higher bandwidth, such as ina scenario where there would be more UAVs operating in an area or whenUAVs in an area is using more bandwidth, e.g., when UAVs may beperforming real time videography in an area due to a newsworthy or otherunexpected event).

Another function that may be performed at the control of the UAVcorridor is to provide flight planning (e.g., changing the flight plan),navigation (e.g., taking direct control of the UAV for emergency ornormal flight control situations), or other FMS services to UAVs withlimited FMS capabilities or UAVs that have less available data forflight in the area of the particular UAV corridor.

Another function that may be performed at the control of the UAVcorridor is to control the flow of UAV traffic within the corridor. Inan embodiment, the UAV corridor control may enforce a range separationbetween UAVs (e.g., through one or more of communication with the UAVoperators to control for congestions within the corridor. For example,some UAVs may have limited flight control capabilities (e.g., ability toquickly change speed and/or flight path). As such, the control mayenforce a range separation to allow the UAVs to operate within areasonable parameter (e.g., constant speed and/or pre-determined flightpath) without the need for drastic changes in flight (e.g., suddenstops). In another embodiment, the UAV corridor control may enforce andentry/exit control of UAVs coming from another operational area (e.g.,another UAV corridor) to manage flow, congestion, or other issues in theUAV corridor. In a further embodiment, the control may work withcontrols of other UAV corridors (e.g., neighboring UAV corridors and/orother UAV corridors that is anticipated to affect the UAV corridor). Forexample, the control may enforce a flow and/or range separation of theUAVs within the corridor in conjunction with or in anticipation of asimilar flow control in a neighboring corridor where UAVs within thecorridor may enter, in order to promote a constant traffic flow betweencorridors. In a situation where a neighboring corridor may restrictentry, landing pads or other corridor infrastructures may be prepared toaccommodate UAVs that need to wait in the corridor prior to beingallowed to enter the neighboring corridor.

Another function that may be performed at the control of the UAVcorridor is to broadcast and/or communicate temporary or recent changesto the flight conditions of the corridor and/or changing flights plansand/or taking control of UAVs in the corridor as needed due to thechanges to the flight conditions. For example, a recent change closingoff an area of airspace within the corridor may be first known orinformed to the control of the UAV corridor. Also, the control of theUAV corridor may have the best information as to how to respond to sucha change (e.g., sufficiently complete information of the UAVs inoperation within the corridor). As such, the control of the UAV corridormay be best suited to formulate an alternate plan of UAVs operationwithin the corridor that causes the least disruption.

Since the UAV corridors may require active maintenance withinfrastructures and systems the corridor may implement a system forcollecting revenue or toll from UAV owners and/or operators. In anembodiment, information related to the UAV owners and/or operators maybe obtained (e.g., through communications with the communication UAVsand/or stations of the corridor) and usage data of the UAV in thecorridor may be tracked. The UAV owners and/or operators may be billedfor the usage.

With regards to the FAA's small UAV rules, there are special caseswherein the FAA Part 107 rules would not be applicable. Special waiversare required in at least some of these cases. A UAV operator that couldnot fly purely under the Part 107 operating rules would need obtainauthorization via a waiver, Public Certificate of Waiver orAuthorization (COA), a special Section 333 Exemption, or a SpecialAirworthiness Certification (SAC)/COA combination. Some of these casesare outlined as follows:

-   -   Beyond Visual Line of Sight        -   Power line inspections        -   Search and rescue (SAR)    -   Night Operations        -   SAR at night        -   Firefighting at night        -   Inspections using thermal equipment in hot environments and            night is the best time to use the equipment        -   Cinematography for TV/movie night scenes        -   Inspections on critical time/sensitive material that require            24/7 monitoring (example: turbidity monitoring for dredging            operations)        -   Sports at night    -   55 Pounds and Heavier        -   Package delivery        -   Crop dusting        -   Firefighting retardant delivery        -   High-end LIDAR to monitor crops such as lumber. The LIDAR is            used to detect the diameter of the wood so the loggers know            which forest to harvest first        -   Cinematography (Dual Red Epics for 3-D filming or full Arri            Alexa with lens and large stack of batteries for extra            flight time)    -   Higher than 400 ft and 400 ft away from the object    -   100 MPH and Faster        -   Survey large areas fast        -   Fast package/medical delivery    -   Operation Over Persons        -   Concerts        -   Live news events        -   Sports    -   Operations from a Moving Vehicle in non-sparsely populated areas

As such, a well-defined UAV corridor may assist UAV operators in dealingwith the myriad of federal and state regulations, city policies, landowner interests, security concerns, and weather and wind (including windshearing conditions), that will vary substantially around the country.Acceptable UAV flight plans and flight corridors will vary by the hour,given the huge number of unique situations that can occur.

It is anticipated the FAA waiver may provide opportunities that, uponshowing working devices and configurations that satisfies the FAA'sconcern for safety, airspace usage, and other concerns (e.g., when thesystems and methods such as the UAV corridor system as disclosed aboveand herein this disclosure), that the FAA will grant waivers that allowsUAV operators to (1) operate and be responsible for, multiple UAVs (thecurrent rules only allows each operator to operate 1 UAV) and (2)operate UAVs beyond a line-of-sight restriction (e.g., by using the UAVcorridor and/or the communication UAV system as disclosed above andherein this disclosure to enable and enhance the reliability andbandwidth of communication for such beyond a line-of-sight operation).

The foregoing discussion of the invention has been presented forpurposes of illustration and description. Further, the description isnot intended to limit the invention to the form disclosed herein.Consequently, variation and modification commiserate with the aboveteachings, within the skill and knowledge of the relevant art, arewithin the scope of the present invention. The embodiment describedhereinabove is further intended to explain the best mode presently knownof practicing the invention and to enable others skilled in the art toutilize the invention as such, or in other embodiments, and with thevarious modifications required by their particular application or usesof the invention.

Also, while the flowcharts have been discussed and illustrated inrelation to a particular sequence of events, it should be appreciatedthat changes, additions, and omissions to this sequence can occurwithout materially affecting the operation of the disclosed embodiments,configuration, and aspects.

A number of variations and modifications of the disclosure can be used.It would be possible to provide for some features of the disclosurewithout providing others.

In yet another embodiment, the systems and methods of this disclosurecan be implemented in conjunction with a special purpose computer, aprogrammed microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integratedcircuit element(s), an ASIC or other integrated circuit, a digitalsignal processor, a hard-wired electronic or logic circuit such as adiscrete element circuit, a programmable logic device or gate array suchas PLD, PLA, FPGA, PAL, special purpose computer, any comparable means,or the like. In general, any device(s) or means capable of implementingthe methodology illustrated herein can be used to implement the variousaspects of this disclosure. Exemplary hardware that can be used for thedisclosed embodiments, configurations and aspects includes computers,handheld devices, telephones (e.g., cellular, Internet enabled, digital,analog, hybrids, and others), and other hardware known in the art. Someof these devices include processors (e.g., a single or multiplemicroprocessors), memory, nonvolatile storage, input devices, and outputdevices. Furthermore, alternative software implementations including,but not limited to, distributed processing or component/objectdistributed processing, parallel processing, or virtual machineprocessing can also be constructed to implement the methods describedherein.

In yet another embodiment, the disclosed methods may be readilyimplemented in conjunction with software using object or object-orientedsoftware development environments that provide portable source code thatcan be used on a variety of computer or workstation platforms.Alternatively, the disclosed system may be implemented partially orfully in hardware using standard logic circuits or VLSI design. Whethersoftware or hardware is used to implement the systems in accordance withthis disclosure is dependent on the speed and/or efficiency requirementsof the system, the particular function, and the particular software orhardware systems or microprocessor or microcomputer systems beingutilized.

In yet another embodiment, the disclosed methods may be partiallyimplemented in software that can be stored on a storage medium, executedon programmed general-purpose computer with the cooperation of acontroller and memory, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, orthe like. In these instances, the systems and methods of this disclosurecan be implemented as a program embedded on personal computer such as anapplet, JAVA® or CGI script, as a resource residing on a server orcomputer workstation, as a routine embedded in a dedicated measurementsystem, system component, or the like. The system can also beimplemented by physically incorporating the system and/or method into asoftware and/or hardware system.

Although the present disclosure describes components and functionsimplemented in the aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations withreference to particular standards and protocols, the aspects,embodiments, and/or configurations are not limited to such standards andprotocols. Other similar standards and protocols not mentioned hereinare in existence and are considered to be included in the presentdisclosure. Moreover, the standards and protocols mentioned herein andother similar standards and protocols not mentioned herein areperiodically superseded by faster or more effective equivalents havingessentially the same functions. Such replacement standards and protocolshaving the same functions are considered equivalents included in thepresent disclosure.

The present disclosure, in various aspects, embodiments, and/orconfigurations, includes components, methods, processes, systems and/orapparatus substantially as depicted and described herein, includingvarious aspects, embodiments, configurations embodiments,subcombinations, and/or subsets thereof. Those of skill in the art willunderstand how to make and use the disclosed aspects, embodiments,and/or configurations after understanding the present disclosure. Thepresent disclosure, in various aspects, embodiments, and/orconfigurations, includes providing devices and processes in the absenceof items not depicted and/or described herein or in various aspects,embodiments, and/or configurations hereof, including in the absence ofsuch items as may have been used in previous devices or processes, e.g.,for improving performance, achieving ease and/or reducing cost ofimplementation.

As the foregoing discussion has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, the foregoing is not intended to limit thedisclosure to the form or forms disclosed herein. In the foregoingdescription for example, various features of the disclosure are groupedtogether in one or more aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations forthe purpose of streamlining the disclosure. The features of the aspects,embodiments, and/or configurations of the disclosure may be combined inalternate aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations other than thosediscussed above. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting an intention that the claims require more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claimsreflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a singleforegoing disclosed aspect, embodiment, and/or configuration. Thus, thefollowing claims are hereby incorporated into this description, witheach claim standing on its own as a separate preferred embodiment of thedisclosure.

Moreover, though the description has included a description of one ormore aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations and certain variationsand modifications, other variations, combinations, and modifications arewithin the scope of the disclosure, e.g., as may be within the skill andknowledge of those in the art, after understanding the presentdisclosure. It is intended to obtain rights which include alternativeaspects, embodiments, and/or configurations to the extent permitted,including alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures,functions, ranges or steps to those claimed, whether or not suchalternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions,ranges or steps are disclosed herein, and without intending to publiclydedicate any patentable subject matter.

The headings, titles, or other descriptions of sections contained inthis disclosure have been inserted for readability and convenience ofthe reader and are mainly for reference only and are not intended tolimit the scopes of embodiments of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An unmanned aerial vehicle system for providingcommunication service to a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)operating within a predetermined operational area of an airspace for theunmanned aerial vehicle system, comprising: a communication unmannedaerial vehicle (UAV), the communication UAV including (A) through (C)following: (A) a first communication component for communicating withthe plurality of UAVs; (B) a second communication component forcommunicating with a communication point, the communication point beingone of (a) a terrestrial communication station, (b) a communicationsatellite, and (c) another of the communication UAVs; and (C) a thirdcommunication component for communicating with another communicationpoint including at least a wireless receiver, wherein the communicationUAV is active for providing the communication service within thepredetermined operational area of the unmanned aerial vehicle system;and a processor for performing a channel bonding operation of (i)communication with the communication point through the secondcommunication component, and (ii) communication with the anothercommunication point through the third communication component; whereinthe communication UAV provides the plurality of UAVs with communicationwith the communication point and the another communication point.
 2. Theunmanned aerial vehicle system of claim 1, wherein communication withthe plurality of UAVs through the first communication component uses anunallocated spectrum.
 3. The unmanned aerial vehicle system of claim 1,wherein the communication through the second communication component andthe communication through the third communication component each uses adifferent one of an allocated spectrum.
 4. The unmanned aerial vehiclesystem of claim 1, wherein the communication through the secondcommunication component and the communication through the thirdcommunication component each uses a same one of an allocated spectrum.5. The unmanned aerial vehicle system of claim 1, wherein one or more ofthe first, second, and third communication components perform theircorresponding communicating within the predetermined operational area.6. An unmanned aerial vehicle system for providing an aerial trafficservice to a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operatingwithin a predetermined operational area of an airspace for the unmannedaerial vehicle system, comprising: a communication station, thecommunication station including (i) a communication component forcommunicating with the plurality of UAVs, and (ii) a secondcommunication component for communicating with another system providingthe aerial traffic service, wherein the communication station is activefor providing the aerial traffic service within the predeterminedoperational area; wherein information related to communications for theaerial traffic service through the second communication component isprovided by the communication station to the plurality of UAVs throughthe communication component.
 7. The unmanned aerial vehicle system ofclaim 6, wherein the communication station is a communication unmannedaerial vehicle (UAV).
 8. The unmanned aerial vehicle system of claim 6,wherein the aerial traffic service includes one of an air trafficcontrol (ATC) system, aircraft communications addressing and reportingsystem (ACARS), traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS), and automaticdependent surveillance—broadcast (ADS-B) system.
 9. The unmanned aerialvehicle system of claim 6, wherein the communication station furthercomprises a processor for determining an applicability of acommunication from the system providing the aerial traffic service to atleast one of the plurality of the UAVs; and wherein, responsive to adetermination of the applicability, information related to thecommunication is sent to an operator of the at least one UAV.
 10. Theunmanned aerial vehicle system of claim 6, wherein the communicationstation further comprises a processor for determining an applicabilityof at least one of the plurality of the UAVs to the system providing theaerial traffic service for a direct communication between an operator ofthe at least one UAV and the system providing the aerial trafficservice; and wherein information for establishing the directcommunication is transmitted to the system providing the aerial trafficservice.
 11. The unmanned aerial vehicle system of claim 10, wherein theinformation includes information for establishing a voice communicationover a packet network.
 12. The unmanned aerial vehicle system of claim6, wherein the communication station further comprises a processor foraggregating communications related to the aerial traffic service fromthe plurality of UAVs; and wherein the aggregated communications istransmitted through the second communication component.
 13. An unmannedaerial vehicle system for tracking a plurality of unmanned aerialvehicles (UAVs) operating within a predetermined operational area of anairspace for the unmanned aerial vehicle system, comprising: a pluralityof communication stations, each of the communication stations includinga first communication component for communicating with at least one ofthe plurality of UAVs, wherein the communication station is activewithin the operational area for the tracking, wherein the plurality ofcommunication stations are arranged spatially for providing acommunication coverage, through their respective first communicationcomponent, within the predetermined operational area for the pluralityof UAVs; and a station including a processor for estimating a path ofone of the plurality of UAVs operating in the operational area using oneor more previous location estimates of the one UAV, the previouslocation estimates based on one or more of (a) signal characteristics ofcommunication with the at least one UAV and one or more thecommunication stations, (b) a location estimate from a geolocationcomponent of the at least one UAV, (c) a location estimate provided byan aerial traffic service, and (d) a location estimate based on trackingdata of the plurality of UAVs from the unmanned aerial vehicle system.14. The unmanned aerial vehicle system of claim 13, wherein the one UAVis not communicating with the plurality of communication stations. 15.The unmanned aerial vehicle system of claim 13, wherein the one UAV hasexited the predetermined operational area.
 16. The unmanned aerialvehicle system of claim 13, wherein the estimating the path by theprocessor includes comparing a previous path of the one UAV with aplurality of flight patterns of UAVs.
 17. The unmanned aerial vehiclesystem of claim 13, wherein the one UAV is the at least one UAV.